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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been grilled over the nation’s defence spending and whether it would commit to fight with the USA for the defence of Taiwan.
The Prime Minister was quizzed during his tour of the People’s Republic of China and while attending an annual leaders’ meeting in Beijing, at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang from 12 to 18 July.
He also met with chairman Zhao Leji of the National People’s Congress and attended the Australia-China CEO Roundtable.
“Look, our aim of investing in our capability and as well, investing in our relationships, is about advancing peace and security in our region. That’s our objective, and that is why we investing in it,” Prime Minister Albanese replied during a doorstop interview on 13 July when he was asked what role Australia would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.
“Well, I have discussions with people which are private, and I keep it private, but on defence spending, Australia is considerably increasing our defence spending. I say the same thing privately as I say publicly, $57 billion over 10 years, we are increasing our defence spending and investment by more than $7 billion. We have contributed, as well, to AUKUS already. Going forward, a billion dollars are being forwarded to help increase the industrial capacity in the United States and will continue to invest in whatever we need to improve our capability.
“Well, Australia is, through the AUKUS arrangements, providing considerable capacity, including increasing the capacity of the United States and the United Kingdom for their own capability. That’s why we’re investing. (When asked about a pre-commitment to defend Taiwan).
“I think it’s important that we have a consistent position, which Australia has had for a long period of time. We support the status quo when it comes to Taiwan. We don’t support any unilateral action there. We have a clear position, and we have been consistent about that. What’s important when it comes to international relationships is that you have a stable, orderly, coherent position going forward. Australia does. We want peace and security in our region. We don’t want any change to the status quo. That’s Australia’s position today. That was Australia’s position last week. That’s been a bipartisan position for a long period of time.”
Prime Minister Albanese was also asked if it was reasonable for the United States to demand any sort of assurances from Australia on a Taiwan contingency, given the US maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity.
“Well, you’ve just answered the question yourself, I think, through the comments that you’ve made,” he said.
“I think you can get it.
“Our alliance with the United States is a very important one for Australia. So we’ll continue to engage constructively in a coherent, stable, orderly way. That’s the way I conduct this government.”
