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China-Japan-Koreas

China tells Australia to review its defence treaty with the US: report

2005-03-08

Australia tells China to "Sod off, PeRCy."

China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States and New Zealand, warning that it could threaten regional stability by drawing Australia into a conflict over Taiwan. The Australian newspaper quoted Beijing's director-general of North American and Oceanian Affairs He Yafei as saying Australia and the United States had to be careful not to invoke the ANZUS alliance against China. "We all know Taiwan is part of China and we do not want to see in any way the Taiwan issue become one of the elements that will be taken up by bilateral military alliances, be it Australia-US or Japan-US," he was quoted as saying.

"If there were any move by Australia and the US in terms of that alliance that is detrimental to peace and stability in Asia then it (Australia) needs to be careful."

The ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-United States) Alliance, drawn up at the end of World War II, is Australia's most important military treaty, under which each country is obliged to support the other in the event of an attack. Australia would be expected under its terms to support the United States if China resorted to force over Taiwan. China is also one of Australia's most important trading partners and an already cordial relationship is constantly widening and deepening to the extent the two are now discussing a free trade agreement.

However, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer suggested last year that Australia might not necessarily go to Taiwan's aid because a flare-up might not constitute a direct attack on US interests. Defence experts were quoted as saying the warnings were a reminder of China's growing economic strength in the region and that Australia may risk its economic and political ties with the nation if drawn into the Taiwan issue. The Australian government said Tuesday that there was no possibility of the ANZUS alliance being reviewed. "We have no plans and the United States has no plans to amend the ANZUS treaty," a spokesman for Downer told AFP.

Posted by:Seafarious

#30 and verify the damn machine it was typed on

Posted by: Dan Rather 2005-03-08 7:25:05 PM

#29 I say review the Treaty! Now is the time to correct any mis-spellings and tidy up the paragraphs.

Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-08 6:55:50 PM

#28 The civilized world should just ignore China. They are too unstable. Our companies should stop building products there and stop kissing Chinese ass in order to be positioned for when the market finally opens up. Stop investing and let them rot.

POlitical reform would come quickly after that, either that or the Chicoms would attack Taiwan to distract their people, attack Taiwan a decade before they had any chance of winning.

Either way they would cease to be a problem.

Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-03-08 5:08:42 PM

#27 DJ, you've got the right idea. ;-)

Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-03-08 3:36:14 PM

#26 I think that I might have one finger raised.

Posted by: DJ 2005-03-08 3:15:15 PM

#25 No Big Ed, the statue I'd build would be the "Goddess of Democracy" that the students in Tianemann Square built.

300 feet high with a big light in the torch.

Posted by: Steve White 2005-03-08 3:12:14 PM

#24 EY,

I think the most important thing for us is to understand the game that the Chinese are playing. Going back to Sun Tzu again, The Art of War asserts that the greatest skill is shown by generals who win battles without fighting. (Devotees of Clausewitz, feel free to disagree, but that's another discussion.)

I honestly do not believe that the PRC is going to launch a surprise invasion of Taiwan with all the costs and uncertainty associated with such an enterprise. I think their ultimate goal is to bluster and bully, convince Americans, Australians, even Taiwanese that it just isn't worth fighting over and basically hand over the island without a shot being fired.

So I guess it gets back to the old saw: The best way to avoid a fight is to be ready for one.

Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-03-08 2:26:18 PM

#23 SOMEONE didn't get the memo about not underestimating our nation's enemies ...

Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-03-08 1:57:18 PM

#22 ...China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States...

... or risk death in the "Buddha of all Battles" (tm)!

Posted by: Hyper 2005-03-08 12:26:08 PM

#21 If NK can tell China to F*&K off, so can we

Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-08 12:24:04 PM

#20 Mike, AzCat, Sobiesky: does "counter-explains" (according to Babelfish, the translation for "oxymoron") count? :P

BH, Dreadnought -- sadly, this looks like the case. Got any ideas for countermoves that will actually be implemented, or are we going to need some *ahem* "political will" augmentations? (read: vote out liberals -- and start bureaucratic purges)

You, Dreadnought, are completely correct and it bothers me, because the Art of War is predicated on having a dictator-king who can smoothly implement his desires ...

P.S. Sorry about the double post, I forgot to ID myself.

Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-03-08 11:56:34 AM

#19 Mike, AzCat, Sobiesky: does "counter-explains" (according to Babelfish, the translation for "oxymoron") count? :P

BH, Dreadnought -- sadly, this looks like the case. Got any ideas for countermoves that will actually be implemented, or are we going to need some *ahem* "political will" augmentations? (read: vote out liberals -- and start bureaucratic purges)

You, Dreadnought, are completely correct and it bothers me, because the Art of War is predicated on having a dictator-king who can smoothly implement his desires ...

Posted by: Ebbavith Flineck2775 2005-03-08 11:54:17 AM

#18 If I were Taiwanese, I would probably build a big statue on the shore facing mainland, so it is visible at least by binoculars ....

...With the right arm extended, and a clenched fist except for the middle finger pointing skyward?

Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-08 11:51:53 AM

#17 This should not come as a terrible surprise to anyone. The Chinese, as one would expect, are devotees of Sun Tzu, and Sun Tzu tell us that in order of importance one should attack the enemy's:

1. Strategy
2. Alliances
3. Armies
4. Cities

We've seen plenty of #1. Now expect lots of #2, as they try to scare off our allies in the region.

Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-03-08 10:56:32 AM

#16 They're making plans, that's for sure. Timing it to coincide with a Hillary presidency, perhaps?

Posted by: BH 2005-03-08 10:06:55 AM

#15 I suppose that I don't have to explain what the statue would represent. ;-)

Or how it's posed.

Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-08 9:26:29 AM

#14 Is this a return the the 50s and 60s? The Reds used to routinely threaten massive destruction if no one paid attention to them. Rather like the NorKs, in fact.

Posted by: Jackal 2005-03-08 9:15:08 AM

#13 Just remember the Argentina scenario, when the economy goes south and unrest goes north, invade and appeal to nationalistic emotions. The Chicom government has yet to experience a real recession and all its wonderful social impacts. Interesting times ahead.

Posted by: Thrainter Cliling3962 2005-03-08 9:05:55 AM

#12 I am watching Japan. As the Chinese rattle sabers, the Japanese quietly rearm. In a competition between PRC and a resurgent Japan, my money is on Japan.

Posted by: SR71 2005-03-08 7:19:46 AM

#11 A half-century old security arrangement ... threatens stability. Queer bit of reasoning there.

Posted by: Rex Rufus 2005-03-08 2:32:18 AM

#10 "Mainland" china belongs to Taiwan...not the other way around. I think the argument can be made that the government of Taiwan has a hell of a lot more claim on the mainland than the "communist" government on the mainland has on Taiwan.

Posted by: Tom Dooley 2005-03-08 2:28:39 AM

#9 China tells Australia to review its defense treaty with the US:

In a show of Trilateral brinkmanship a senior official in the Australian Ministry of Organic Foods confided; "This demarche from China will not stand. In fact all three ANZUS partners, Australia,New Zealand, and the United States demanded today that China take the MSG out of all Chinese foods (especially take-out)!"

Posted by: rice 2005-03-08 1:52:13 AM

#8 I can't figure out who or what in China is so flipping stupid. China keeps pushing this Taiwan issue.

aiwan is already a huge investment in China. It doesn't appear that most Chinese folks on Taiwan care about a separate "nation." They do however want to live the way they fell like. If China would just shut the hell up and quit stepping all over it's self a peaceful and gradual reunification will take place. This crap they are doing now just makes that day further off not sooner.

It's totally nutso.

Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-03-08 1:09:34 AM

#7 Verlaine, sorry for misspelling you nick.

Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-03-08 1:03:55 AM

#6 Veraline, they just passed a law about Taiwan today in Beijing, declaring it an indivisible part of China and forbidding it to secede.

If I were Taiwanese, I would probably build a big statue on the shore facing mainland, so it is visible at least by binoculars from over there. Its unveiling would coincide with the declaration of independence. I suppose that I don't have to explain what the statue would represent. ;-)

Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-03-08 1:01:55 AM

#5 But not stupid enough to actually do anything about Taiwan, probably. These pathetic Chinese histrionics respond to a widespread and authentic crude nationalism at home, but the beauty is that while the ~~gangsters~~ government gets negligible short-term mileaage at home out of this, it helps generate the real-world response (Japan's slow movement back toward a real security role) that helps us and hems them in. There's a reason China is famous for culture, cuisine, and not foreign policy acumen ....

Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq 2005-03-08 12:53:58 AM

#4 My guess would be that ox moron probably translates better than oxymoron. ;)

Posted by: AzCat 2005-03-08 12:51:25 AM

#3 Well, who knows, but I bet that moron definitely does translate well.

Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-03-08 12:48:36 AM

#2 China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States and New Zealand, warning that it could threaten regional stability ....

One wonders if the term "oxymoron" translates well into Mandarin.

Posted by: AzCat 2005-03-08 12:44:54 AM

#1 ...Gad, those heathen Chinee are idiots...

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-03-08 12:33:16 AM

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