US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
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Fighter jets fly over a crowd in a display during Exercise Pitch Black at Mindil Beach, Darwin, on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS)
US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
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Jets flying in formation over a training area near the northern Australian city of Darwin during Exercise Pitch Black 24, involving Australia, the US and other nations on July 23, 2024. (Australian Department of Defense handout photo via AFP)
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Updated 26 July 2024
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US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

DARWIN, Australia: The US military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with US and Australian defense officials show.
Closer to the Philippines than Australia’s east coast capital, Canberra, Darwin has long been a garrison town for the Australian Defense Force and a US Marine Rotational Force that spends six months of each year there.
A few hundred kilometers to the south, RAAF Base Tindal is home to key elements of Australia’s airpower, and was a temporary base for US jets in recent exercises.
As northern Australia re-emerges as a strategically vital Indo-Pacific location amid rising tensions with China, the United States has quietly begun constructing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of facilities there to support B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, and refueling and transport aircraft — all part of a larger effort to distribute US forces around the region and make them less vulnerable.
“When you look at the positioning of northern Australia, particularly Darwin, in relation to the region ... it’s always good to have multiple options in where you would want to put your forces in any type of crisis,” said Col. Brian Mulvihill, commanding officer of the US Marine Rotational Force.
Tender documents show that intelligence briefing rooms, upgraded runways for bombers, warehouses, data centers and maintenance hangars are in the works. Massive fuel storage facilities are already built, officials told Reuters on a rare visit to the two northern bases.
The projects, scheduled for construction in 2024 and 2025, make northern Australia the top overseas location for US Air Force and Navy construction spending, with more than $300 million set aside under the US congressional defense authorizations for those years.
There is more on the horizon: The US Navy in June sought contractors for projects worth up to $2 billion to build wharves, runways, fuel storage and hangars in places including Australia’s Cocos Islands, and neighboring Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, under a program to counter China.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.




Wing Commander Andrew Nelson, commanding officer for Australia's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter squadron based at RAAF Tindal, and Lt. Col. Ryan Nickell from a visiting US F-22 squadron, pose for a photograph near the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory, Australia, on July 17, 2024. (REUTERS)

Air Commodore Ron Tilley, the Royal Australian Air Force director-general of capital facilities and infrastructure, confirmed Washington was paying for the facilities at Darwin and Tindal, which would support US operations.
“I don’t believe the US would be spending all this money on our northern bases if there wasn’t an arrangement in place where they could use those facilities they are funding in times of conflict,” he added.
Canberra has drawn closer to its top security ally, Washington, under the AUKUS pact to transfer US nuclear submarine technology to Australia next decade. Yet it has been largely silent on US military construction in the north.
The Australian government recently highlighted its own plans to spend A$14 billion “hardening” the northern bases under the country’s biggest defense shakeup since World War Two.
The Australian and US defense officials interviewed for this story said the new facilities should not be characterised as US bases. Foreign basing is a sensitive domestic political issue for Australia; successive governments, including that of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have said there are no US bases on Australian soil.
“All the bases will remain Australian bases, but will be able to be utilized by our international partners,” Tilley said.

Laying foundations
A 2011 agreement with Australia for the US Marine Corps to temporarily train in Darwin has evolved into a regional deterrence role for about 2,000 Marines each year, Mulvihill said. War games this month included troops from the Philippines and Timor Leste.
The Marines are adding facilities at Darwin for their MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which can shuttle troops and equipment.
“Darwin is absolutely key terrain for us to help bring stability to the region,” he said in an interview at Darwin’s Larrakeyah Barracks. “We are more focused on that interoperability with the Australian Defense Force – how can we project power from northern Australia into the region.”
The United States wants to be able to disperse its forces from its largest bases in the Pacific, such as Guam and Okinawa, to reduce vulnerability.
For Australia, the northern bases offer greater access to the South China Sea, and with Tindal, a secure inland location for Australia’s F-35A stealth aircraft and its MQ-4C Triton long-range surveillance drone. A US F-22 Raptor squadron shared the facilities this month during Exercise Pitch Black.
Tindal’s location is “vitally important,” said RAAF Base Tindal Wing Commander Fiona Pearce, with “greater reach into our near region.”
US tender documents and engineering plans for Tindal show parking and hangars for six B-52 bombers and refueling aircraft.
Australia is spending A$1.5 billion ($981.45 million) on Tindal’s redevelopment, and by July a new terminal, control tower, hangars and accommodation for extra personnel were near completion. Separate US and Australian jet fuel stores sit side by side, and the tarmac is being dug up for the bomber expansion.




Tibby Quall, an indigenous Australian, is seen at a protest site in Darwin, Australia, on July 16, 2024. (REUTERS)

‘Already a target’
A third of residents in the sparsely populated Northern Territory are Indigenous Australians, although they make up just 10 percent of Darwin’s population.
Traditional Owners, as Indigenous Australians who have cultural access rights to an area of land or sea are referred to in Australia, can visit sacred sites on the bases, US and Australian officials said.
Tibby Quall, 75, is among several Traditional Owners who say growing demand for defense-related housing in Darwin has led to land-clearing of forests they want protected, while rising prices have pushed Indigenous families out of the city.
Despite visitation rights, he says, his family has no real voice on how the land is used.
“Defense are the prominent citizens,” said Quall, a military veteran.
Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis says his city, where a Chinese company runs the port, welcomes the economic boost as the defense presence grows, although some residents have raised concerns that hosting the US military could make the city a target.
“The reality is that we are already a target: We are the most northern port in Australia, we are the city that serves the gas and oil industry,” said Vatskalis, who supports the military expansion.


Putin says China is Russia’s ally, backs its stance on Taiwan

Putin says China is Russia’s ally, backs its stance on Taiwan
Updated 8 sec ago
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Putin says China is Russia’s ally, backs its stance on Taiwan

Putin says China is Russia’s ally, backs its stance on Taiwan
  • The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, but have signed a ‘no limits’ partnership deal in 2022
  • Putin suggested that Taiwan was trying to stir up a Ukraine-style crisis in Asia in order to attract outside support
SOCHI, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin described China on Thursday as Russia’s ally and threw his weight behind Beijing’s claims over Taiwan, while stating that no countries had anything to fear from deepening Sino-Russian co-operation.
The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, but Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a “no limits” partnership deal in 2022, less than three weeks before Putin sent his troops into Ukraine.
In May this year they agreed to deepen what they called their “comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” for a new era.
“We do not believe that China is pursuing an aggressive policy in the region,” Putin said at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
He suggested that Taiwan was trying to stir up a Ukraine-style crisis in Asia in order to attract outside support.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite strong objections by the government in Taipei, and regularly holds wargames near the island.
“A lot is going on around Taiwan,” Putin said. “Everyone formally acknowledges, yes, Taiwan is part of China. But in reality? In reality, it is acting in a completely different direction. Provoking the situation toward escalation.
“We do support China. And because of this, we believe that (China) is conducting a completely reasonable policy. And also because it is our ally. We have a very large trade turnover, we co-operate in the security sector.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said China and Russia were the real problem.
“The regime of Russia’s Putin launched a war of aggression against Ukraine, leading to misery for Ukraine’s people and sanctions and condemnation from the international community,” it said in a statement.
“China and Russia together continue to undermine the rule-based international order and have become a serious threat to world peace and stability.”
Putin compared military drills between Russia and China to those the United States holds with Japan.
“These exercises do not threaten anyone,” Putin said. “They are aimed at ensuring our security.”

Swiss ‘burqa ban,’ condemned by Muslims, to take effect from Jan. 1, 2025

Swiss ‘burqa ban,’ condemned by Muslims, to take effect from Jan. 1, 2025
Updated 51 min 43 sec ago
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Swiss ‘burqa ban,’ condemned by Muslims, to take effect from Jan. 1, 2025

Swiss ‘burqa ban,’ condemned by Muslims, to take effect from Jan. 1, 2025
  • Anyone who unlawfully flouts the ban faces a fine of up to $1,144
  • Facial coverings remain permitted for reasons relating to health, safety

ZURICH: A contentious Swiss prohibition on facial coverings in public spaces widely known as the “burqa ban” will take effect on Jan. 1, the government said on Wednesday.
Narrowly passed in a 2021 referendum in neutral Switzerland, and condemned by Muslim associations, the measure was launched by the same group that organized a 2009 ban on new minarets.
The governing Federal Council said in a statement it had fixed the start of the ban, and that anyone who unlawfully flouts it faces a fine of up to 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,144).
The ban does not apply to planes or in diplomatic and consular premises, and faces may also be covered in places of worship and other sacred sites, the government said.
Facial coverings will remain permitted for reasons relating to health and safety, for native customs, or due to weather conditions, it said. They would also be allowed on artistic and entertainment grounds and for advertising, it added.
If such coverings are needed for personal protection in exercising freedom of expression and assembly, they should be permitted provided the responsible authority has already approved them and public order is not compromised, it said.
 


Two separatist militants, two government-run militia members killed in Indian-administered Kashmir

Two separatist militants, two government-run militia members killed in Indian-administered Kashmir
Updated 58 min 34 sec ago
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Two separatist militants, two government-run militia members killed in Indian-administered Kashmir

Two separatist militants, two government-run militia members killed in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • Militants in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989
  • Many support rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as independent country

NEW DELHI: Two suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said Friday, while assailants killed two members of a government-sponsored militia elsewhere in the disputed region.
The region, divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety, has experienced an increase in violence in recent weeks.
The Indian military said a joint team of soldiers and police raided a village near northwestern Sopore town late Thursday following a tip about the presence of a group of militants.
The militants “fired indiscriminately” at the troops, leading to a gunbattle in which two were killed, the military said in a statement.
Troops were continuing to search the area, it said. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
Meanwhile, assailants killed two members of a government-run militia called the “Village Defense Group” in the remote southern Kishtwar area late Thursday, officials said.
Police blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir for the killings.
The two were abducted from a forested area where they had gone to graze cattle on Thursday. Their bodies were found late Thursday, police said.
The militia was initially formed in the 1990s as a defense against anti-India insurgents in remote Himalayan villages that government forces could not reach quickly. As the insurgency waned in their areas and as some militia members gained notoriety for brutality and rights violations, the militia was largely disbanded.
However last year, after the killing of seven Hindus in two attacks in a remote mountainous village near the highly militarized Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, authorities revived the militia and began rearming and training thousands of villagers, including some teenagers.
The Kashmir Tigers, which Indian officials say is an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, claimed responsibility for the killings of the two in a statement on social media. The statement could not be independently verified.
Militants in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is “Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.” Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
 


Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty

Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty
Updated 08 November 2024
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Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty

Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty
  • China summons Philippine ambassador to lodge solemn representations over the new laws
  • Unclear if laws could reduce incidents with China in Manila’s exclusive economic zone

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws on Friday aimed at strengthening the country’s maritime claims and bolstering its territorial integrity, as tensions with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea persist.
The Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act would define the Philippines’ maritime entitlements and set designated sea lanes and air routes to reinforce sovereignty and maritime rights under international law.
China has summoned the Philippine ambassador to lodge solemn representations over two new laws, its foreign ministry said on Friday.
Marcos hailed the laws as a demonstration of the Philippines’ commitment to uphold an international rules-based order, and protect its rights to exploit resources peacefully in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“Our people, especially our fisher folk, should be able to pursue their livelihood free from uncertainty and harassment,” Marcos said. “We must be able to harness mineral and energy resources in our sea bed.”
While the two laws were envisioned to help US ally the Philippines to monitor and defend against potential encroachment, questions remain about how they will be enforced and if they will impact Chinese activity in the Philippine EEZ.
China asserts its claim of sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea through an armada of coast guard ships, some of which are accused by its neighbors of aggressive conduct and of trying to disrupt energy and fisheries activity in their EEZs.
Senator Francis Tolentino, one of the authors of the maritime zones measure, said he does not expect tensions in Philippine EEZ will be instantly reduced with the implementation of the new laws.
“China will not recognize these, but the imprimatur that we’ll be getting from the international community would strengthen our position,” Tolentino told a press conference.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new laws and senator’s remarks.
Tolentino also said the laws would reinforce a 2016 arbitration ruling on the South China Sea, which declared China’s expansive claims had no basis under international law. China has rejected the 2016 decision.


Hungary PM Orban says Europe cannot finance Ukraine war alone

Hungary PM Orban says Europe cannot finance Ukraine war alone
Updated 08 November 2024
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Hungary PM Orban says Europe cannot finance Ukraine war alone

Hungary PM Orban says Europe cannot finance Ukraine war alone
  • Viktor Orban: ‘The Americans will quit this war, first of all they will not encourage the war’

BUDAPEST: The United States under the presidency of Donald Trump will “quit” the war in Ukraine and Europe cannot finance this war alone, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday before an informal summit of EU leaders in Budapest.
“The Americans will quit this war, first of all they will not encourage the war,” Orban said. “Europe cannot finance this war alone ... some still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war but the number of those who remain silent ...and those who cautiously voice that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing.”