CANBERRA (news.com.au/Pacnews) — Australia has been issued an ominous threat, after China lashed out at reports of the U.S sending nuclear-capable bombers to the Northern Territory.
According to an investigation by the ABC’s Four Corners that aired on Monday, Washington has drawn up plans to build a dedicated a “squadron operations facility” at the Tindal air base south of Darwin that will house “six B-52s.”
These aircraft are capable of delivering both nuclear and conventional weapons, with a combat range of more than 14,000km.
The news has prompted a furious response from Beijing, with the former editor-in-chief of the CCP-run Global Times issuing an ominous warning to Australia.
Commentator Hu Xijin said Australia would need to “bear the risks” of this move.
“The PLA’s Dongfeng missiles definitely fly faster than the B-52 bombers,” he wrote on Twitter.
“If Australia wants to become a ‘big Guam,’ then it must bear the corresponding strategic risks.”
There have even been warnings that accepting these bombers could “trigger a regional arms race.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said by sending the bombers to Australia, the U.S had “increased regional tensions, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and may trigger a regional arms race.”
“Defense and security cooperation between any countries should be conducive to regional peace and stability and not target or harm the interests of third parties,” he told reporters in Beijing.
Zhao said Beijing was urging all the countries concerned to “abandon the old Cold War zero-sum thinking and narrow geopolitical concepts.”
The focus should instead be on contributing more to regional peace and stability and enhancing “mutual trust,” he said.
Documents obtained by Four Corners show the planned facilities, which will include a parking area and adjoining maintenance center, will be used for “deployed B-52 squadrons.”
“The ability to deploy U.S Air Force bombers to Australia sends a strong message to adversaries about our ability to project lethal air power,” the U.S Air Force told the program.
According to the program, the Tindal air base plan — expected to cost up to U.S. $100 million and be completed by 2026 — is part of a much larger upgrade of defense assets across northern Australia, including the Pine Gap spy base.
The Department of Defense confirmed the U.S was “funding a project to construct an aircraft parking apron at RAAF Base Tindal, which is capable of accommodating up to six B-52 aircraft and other aircraft types.”
“The project provides functionality for Australian Defense Force use and can also host other aircraft types, enhancing our capacity to train with and host international partners,” a spokesman said.
“United States bomber aircraft, including B-52s, have been visiting Australia since the early 1980s and conducting training in Australia since 2005. Any future rotations of U.S B-52 aircraft in Australia would be consistent with the longstanding objectives of the U.S. Force Posture Initiatives, which include improving interoperability between Australian and U.S. armed forces through training and exercises.”
Anti-nuclear activist Richard Tanter from the Nautilus Institute told Four Corners the move greatly expanded Australia’s commitment to any U.S. war with China.
“It’s a sign to the Chinese that we are willing to be the tip of the spear,” he said.
“It’s very hard to think of a more open commitment that we could make. A more open signal to the Chinese that we are going along with American planning for a war with China.”
Dr. Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, argued it was a “sensible move” given the rising risk of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“It’s important that Australia step up to support U.S. extended nuclear deterrence in new ways, to strengthen integrated deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, and to burden share with the U.S. to dissuade China from using force to resolve territorial disputes,” Dr. Davis wrote on Twitter.
“Hosting B-52s represents a visible step of Australian commitment to the U.S.-Australia strategic alliance that is so vital to our defense and national security.”
The plans were hinted at in last year’s annual Australia-United States Ministerial meetings, where it was agreed for “enhanced air co-operation” which would see “rotational deployment of U.S. aircraft of all types in Australia,” although B-52s were not explicitly mentioned.
A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., approaches the flightline at Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin, Australia, April 6, 2018.
