PM Gillard Downplays Regional Backlash Over Security Deals with U.S.
The Australian government downplayed the possibility of backslash with its Asian neighbors despite glaring protests howled last week by both China and Indonesia on Canberra's new security arrangements with the United States.
The two Asia Pacific region powerhouses have voiced out their concerns over the posting of 2500 U.S. Marine in northern Australia over the next six years, which was announced last week by U.S. President Barack Obama when he made a short in Australia last week.
Almost immediately, Beijing made known its sentiments on the matter, emphasising that Canberra's decision to heighten its security pact with Washington, which will be highlighted by the upgraded presence of U.S. troops in the region, is inappropriate.
On its part, Jakarta voiced out reservations on Australia's new deal with America, with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa suggesting that the development could lead to strained relations among nations within the region.
The apparent build-up of U.S. military presence in the region, Natalegawa said, could unnecessarily spur "a vicious circle of tensions and mistrust."
The two countries' remarks were made following observations by security analysts that America is obviously working to ramp up its military presence in the region amidst glaring efforts by both China and Indonesia to increase their influence in the area, touted as the next global flashpoint due to its vast reserves of energy resources.
This early, Beijing has been diplomatically sparring with a number of South East Asian nations over territorial disputes on the Spratly Island straddling the South China seas, which China claims in whole.
Other countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, lay claim on some of the atolls and insist that the spots are located within their nautical territories.
However, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is confident that her new security deal with Obama will not add up to the already tense situation in the Spratlys and to the rest of the Asia Pacific region as a whole.
Ms Gillard said that no amount of animosity was displayed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during their sideline meeting at the East Asia Summit hosted by Indonesia over the weekend.
"Our meeting was a cordial one, it was a constructive one. We were looking to the future, it was a forward-looking meeting ... and the Chinese government through its foreign ministry (has indicated) that they've got a focus on peace and stability in the region, and so do we," Ms Gillard was reported by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying in Jakarta.
She added that her bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bali clarified Australia's stance on the matter, which is "our defence cooperation with the United States is not aimed at any nation in our region."
Any security arrangements that Australia forged with America, Ms Gillard added, were mostly to improve "regional contingencies including natural disasters."