Australian PM: Multibillion Dollar Military Spending Not a Warning to China
Voice of America
SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says multibillion-dollar investments in military bases in northern Australia are designed to enhance regional peace, rather than as a deliberate response to China's growing assertiveness. In response, officials in Beijing have called Australian politicians the “real troublemakers.”
Australia is beefing up its military bases in the Northern Territory, including facilities to train aboriginal recruits, and others that host joint exercises with U.S. Marines stationed in the region. Speaking at the Robertson army barracks in the Northern Territory, Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted a 10-year $6 billion plan to improve defense facilities was meant to keep the peace in an "uncertain" region rather than preparing for conflict. He was responding to questions from the media about recent tensions with Beijing over Taiwan. “All of our objectives here through the activities of our defense forces are designed to pursue peace. That is the objective of our government,” he said.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.