AUSTRALIA and one of its oldest allies, the United States, recently agreed to boost security links during a top-level meeting of government officials in Sydney. The agreement includes a major increase in joint military exercises, and the upgrading of the US spy satellite facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs in Northern Territory.
The US group, led by Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Defence Secretary William Perry, is the biggest defence delegation to visit Australia in a decade. The head of the Peace Research Center at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Professor Ramesh Thakur, believes the Americans are more interested now in listening to the Australian Government's desire to augment the military alliance than they would have been three years ago. "There is less of a euphoria about the end of the Cold War and more concern about new threats, new uncertainties, and the loss of initial innocence after the Cold War."
Superior weapons technology and intelligence gathering systems are not the only reasons for agreeing to a US military presence. Says the head of International Relations at ANU, Professor Andrew Mack: "This is part of the insurance premium we pay for America being our great and powerful friend. And in theory, since these things are important to the Americans, if at some stage we were to be involved in a war with Country X, and the US decided not to support us, we could say we will pull the plug on Pine Gap. It gives us some leverage."
While China is mentioned during discussions of potential post-Cold War threats, it is not the only one. Indonesia because of its sheer size, Japan because of its economic weight, India with its entry into the ASEAN Regional Forum, squabbles over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, are all potential concerns. There are reports that some ASEAN members support the bilateral alliance. Says Thakur: "It is not that the regional countries love America the most, but they fear it the least—it is outside the region and can play a stabilising role better than any of those within the Asia-Pacific region." While this belief is echoed within the John Howard administration, there are growing doubts about the ruling Liberal Party's commitment to Asia. Says China expert David Goodman: "Regional countries are questioning the purpose of the bases. They want to know what's going on between the US and Australia because, although not very much is changing in substance, the government seems determined to create something new and positive with America, and by extension, they (the Australians) are seen as wanting to change their relationship with South-east Asia as well as East Asia."
A recent signed editorial in the official Chinese People's Daily said: "The recent movement by the US in Australia shows that the Cold War thought process has not changed much in the minds of some people who still hope to play the role of global policemen."
Since the US bases were set up, they have gone through various transformations. The communication station for American submarines at North West Cape has now been turned over for use by Australian submarines. The ground station for satellites that detected the launch of missiles at Nurrunga in South Australia will be phased out by 2000 and its functions will be transferred to Pine Gap. The main function of Pine Gap will be to act as a ground station for electronic spy satellites.
Criticism about US bases in Australia goes back at least three decades. Some Australian writers had criticised the government for turning the continent into a nuclear target during the Cold War. Says the President of the Australian Center for American Studies and Chairman of the ASEAN Focus Group, Rawdon Dalrymple: "If there had been a nuclear war, the likelihood is that the bases would have been targeted because they could identify and give warning of intercontinental ballistic missile firings." Another line of criticism stemmed from the initial shroud of secrecy surrounding the bases although the government of late has been leaking information on them.
While domestic disputes on the function of a US military facility will no doubt continue, observers feel Australia's emerging role in Asia demands a more delicately balanced approach to foreign relations.
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