Australia unveiled a major overhaul of its defense doctrine on Monday to counter China’s military buildup amid tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, where Beijing’s influence is growing, AFP reported.

“Today (Monday), for the first time in 35 years, we are redefining the mission of the Australian Defense Force,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles announced, assessing that the previous strategy was “no longer adapted to its intended purpose”. , quoted by News.ro.

Containment

Australia’s new military doctrine is now based on deterrence, aiming to keep an adversary at a distance before it can reach Australian territory, and in this sense involves the use of missiles, submarines and cyber tools.

A new strategic report from the Ministry of Defense justifies the change by strengthening Beijing’s military capabilities and warns against increasing “risks of military escalation or misjudgment”.

Australian military analysts have viewed China’s rise in military power with suspicion and fear that this increase in Beijing’s military capabilities could de facto cut Australia off from its trading partners and global supply chains.

Against this threat, Australia’s new defense doctrine involves recruiting soldiers, consolidating military bases in the country’s north and expanding its military’s air, land and sea attack capabilities.

Long-range missiles

Canberra announced the creation of a new fleet of nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles.

On Monday, Richard Marles announced that the Australian Defense Force will be equipped with long-range strike capabilities, both from the ground and from the air.

The emergence of the “missile era” in modern warfare, crystallized by the spread of high-precision long-range strike weapons, “radically reduced Australia’s geographical advantages”, the authors of the report conclude.

The priority is coastal defense, and the army must equip itself with a “long-range attack capability”, which de facto halts the development of some land-based military projects.

The purchase plan for 450 infantry fighting vehicles has been reduced to 129 units.

The announcement of this new doctrine provoked an immediate reaction from Beijing, which insists that it still pursues a “defensive” national defense policy.

“We do not pose a threat to any country,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Nig said on Monday.

“We hope that some countries will refrain from using China as an excuse to expand their military power or put forward the theory of the Chinese threat,” she stressed.

Record military spending

Australia’s Ministry of Defense mentions the word “China” only nine times in its report, but Beijing’s massive military investment and China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region are elements that have accelerated the emergence of this new Australian military doctrine.

Instead, the document emphasizes that this strengthening of Beijing’s military capabilities “occurs without transparency and without reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region about China’s strategic intentions.”

“China’s assertion of its sovereignty in the South China Sea threatens the world order (…) in the Indo-Pacific (region) in a way that adversely affects Australia’s national interests,” the report said.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China’s military spending will reach a record $292 billion in 2022, rising for the 28th year in a row.

The resurgence of strategic competition between China and the United States “should be seen as a defining characteristic of our region and our time,” the strategic report emphasized. (News.ro)