Speaking on Thursday, Mr Morrison said the enhanced security alliance with the United States and Britain, which will include collaborations on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, reflected the need for more dangerous dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The relatively benign environment we have enjoyed for many decades in our region has lagged behind,” he said, without directly mentioning China. “We have entered a new era with new challenges for Australia and our partners.”
Some security analysts have argued that China’s recent retaliation against Australia for its toughest line: reducing imports of coal, wine, beef, lobsters and barley, along with the arrest of at least two Chinese-born Australian citizens , seemed to have pushed Australia in the direction of the Americans. . In response, China can expand its campaign of economic sanctions. It seems that Australia has calculated that Beijing has little interest in improving relations.
“I think the fear of doing that would have been much more palpable even three or four years ago, maybe even two years ago,” said Euan Graham, Asia-Pacific security analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies based in Singapore. “But once your relationship has to do with punishment and insults, frankly, that comes at a price. China doesn’t have the lever of fear, of being angry, because it’s all the rage. time “.
According to critics of Australia’s firm faith in the United States, an approaching question is whether Washington will be measured. Since President Barack Obama announced a “pivot to Asia,” speaking before the Australian Parliament in 2011, U.S. allies have been waiting for a decisive shift in resources and attention. For the most part, they have been disappointed.
Dr. Graham said the deal with the submarines would dampen some of those criticisms. For other allies such as Japan and South Korea, he said, “Answer this question that the US continues to participate in its network of alliances in this part of the world.”