Hanwha Defense’s new armored vehicle This photo, taken on July 23, 2020, shows a prototype of Hanwha Defense Co.’s Redback armored infantry fighting vehicle to be delivered to the Australian Army. (Yonhap)
The big question is where in the Indo-Pacific would these troops go if they are in fact moved out of Germany?:
U.S. soldiers stand in formation during a ceremony to kick off the Yama Sakura exercise at Camp Asaka, Tokyo, Dec. 9, 2019. SETH ROBSON/STARS AND STRIPES
Thousands of troops may be redeployed to the Indo-Pacific under a plan to reduce U.S. forces in Germany, according to the White House’s national security adviser.
President Donald Trump announced last week his intentions of cutting troop levels in Germany from 34,500 to 25,000. He said the country, where the U.S. has stationed troops since 1945, has shortchanged the United States on trade and defense, and that he will reduce troop numbers “until they pay” more.
This is good news because clearly the Chinese are trying to create strategic bases in the South Pacific where they could target Australia and New Zealand from. If a contingency was to happen in the South China Sea the fact that these two U.S. allies could be quickly targeted could influence future defense decisions:
The marker indicates the location of Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands chain.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday lauded a legal decision in the Solomon Islands that prevents a Chinese company from leasing an entire island in the South Pacific nation.
“I want to applaud the decision of the Solomon Islands attorney general to invalidate the Chinese effort to lease the island of Tulagi for 75 years,” Esper said in a statement. “This is an important decision to reinforce sovereignty, transparency, and the rule of law.”
Details of the long-term lease between the Solomon Islands’ Central Province and the China Sam Enterprise Group were only recently made public. News of the deal followed soon after Solomon Island officials announced in September that the nation was switching its diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.
You can read more at the link, but but do not think that the Chinese are not going to stop trying to create strategic bases in the South Pacific to pressure New Zealand and Australia with.
It will be interesting to see how eager this guy is going to be to go back to North Korea anytime soon:
Australian student Alex Sigley gestures as he arrives at the airport in Beijing on Thursday, July 4, 2019. The Australian student who vanished in North Korea more than a week ago arrived in Beijing on Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Emily Wang)
A 29-year-old Australian student detained in North Korea surfaced in Beijing airport on Thursday, saying he was in “very good” spirits after being released.
Alek Sigley ― one of a handful of Westerners living and studying in North Korea ― disappeared without a trace around June 23, prompting a week of deep concern and frantic speculation about his fate.
For days Sigley’s family received no word about his whereabouts or wellbeing, stoking fears he may be the latest in a long line of foreigners to become entangled in North Korea’s police state.
Then, with little warning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday told lawmakers that Sigley had “been released from detention in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and that “he is safe and well”.
You can read more at the link, but there has been speculation that his detention may have been linked to the Trump-Kim summit at the DMZ. The North Koreans may not have wanted word of the meeting to leak and took extreme precautions to include detaining this Australian man until after the summit was complete.
KCNA: "Australia is seeking to destroy the hard-won peaceful atmosphere of the Korean peninsula and the region. It has become clear that Australia is displeased with the trend of peace in the Korean peninsula and the region."
Royal Australian Air Force to conduct joint training exercise with Japan Air Self-Defense Force in Japan for the first time, coming September 10-30. https://t.co/kcBTYWKl90
A South Korean tourist visiting Australia is very lucky to be alive:
In this image taken from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation video, South Korean backpacker Han Joo-hee, 25, center, is assisted to a hospital after being rescued by helicopter, Thursday, in Tully, Queensland, Australia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP
A South Korean tourist was found safe and “in good spirits” six days after falling into a deep ravine while taking photos from a mountaintop in northeastern Australia, officials said.
Rescuers said the chances of survival for 25-year-old Han Joo-hee had been “near zero” after spending nearly a week without food in the remote area.
Han disappeaered on June 1 after telling friends she was going to climb Mount Tyson, a peak in bushland south of Cairns in northern Queensland state, police said.
She was not reported missing until Wednesday, when police, soldiers and emergency crews launched a search, finally locating her Thursday stuck in a deep ravine near a waterfall.
She was winched to safety by helicopter and taken to a local hospital suffering only minor injuries. [Korea Times]
The islands of Vanuatu may appear as relative specks in the South Pacific Ocean, but for China’s military strategists, they could provide a significant boost in Beijing’s ability to project naval power.
The prospect of a Chinese military base in the heart of the South Pacific, reported by Australia’s Fairfax Media on Tuesday, will also complicate the strategic dominance of Western powers in an ocean area they have long effectively controlled, according to diplomats and experts monitoring developments.
Fairfax Media reported China has approached Vanuatu about establishing a permanent military presence there, saying the possibility of such a facility has already alarmed high level officials in Canberra and Washington.
Vanuatu’s foreign minister denied there had been any such discussion of a Chinese military base in the country. China’s defence ministry said the Fairfax report “completely did not accord with the facts” while a foreign ministry spokesman said the report was “fake news”. (…….)
While far from key shipping lanes and not as important as Indian Ocean ports, Vanuatu would put China close to the coast of Australia, a major U.S. ally, and give it a presence nearer the U.S. base of Guam beyond the Asian island chains that hem in Beijing.
Graeme Smith, a Pacific Affairs expert at the Australian National University, said a Chinese base on Vanuatu would send a strong message to Australia, the United States and their allies.
“It would be an incredibly aggressive signal to both the U.S. and Australia that ‘We’re here, get used to it’,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview. [Reuters]
You can read more at the link, but how long will it be before some Chinese scholar says Vanuatu was historically part of China?
Australian Ambassador to South Korea James Choi (L) poses for a photo during a publicity event at a department store in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on March 23, 2018, to promote Australian grapes. (Yonhap)
