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Canberra, Monday 25 March 2002
Australian involvement in military confrontation with China?
In a seminar to be delivered at ANU’s Contemporary China Centre tomorrow,
Dr Greg Austin will analyse the security perceptions of China’s leaders
with reference to US strategic policy toward Taiwan, Tibet and Turkestan.
He poses the question, "Is China’s periphery crumbling?"
As a leading Australian-China specialist, Dr Greg Austin warns current trends
in the triangular relationship between China, Taiwan and the USA foreshadow
an increasing likelihood that Australia’s military forces will be involved
in some sort of military confrontation with China within a relatively short
time frame.
"To avoid such an outcome," said Dr Austin, "Australia would
need to work vigorously for significant changes in policy by both China
and the USA, and by other key US allies, such as Japan. Australian military
forces have already been involved in the high-stakes military diplomacy
being played out between the USA and China over Taiwan since 1996, through
RAN transits of the Taiwan Strait, at least one of which was challenged
by the PLA Navy on 17 April 2001".
The main reason Dr Austin cites for the new seriousness of the East Asian
strategic situation is the growing pessimism of Chinese leaders toward their
international and domestic security situation, particularly what seen by
them as an unreasonable and unrelenting US determination to aggravate Beijing’s
security threats. This pessimism helps to explain the pressure put on Australia
over Tibet by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, when he visited
Canberra last week.
Dr Greg Austin is a Visiting Fellow at ANU’s Contemporary China Centre
and a founding member of the International Committee for Peace and Security
in the Taiwan Strait. From February 2000 to January 2002, he held senior
posts in the Brussels and Washington offices of the International Crisis
Group, a multi-national NGO publishing policy analysis in support of conflict
prevention in countries facing large-scale deadly violence.
When: 11.30am Tuesday 26 March
Where: Building 9 Liversidge Street, Contemporary China Centre, ANU
For papers or more information please contact:
Dr Greg Austin on (02) 6125 0152 or (02) 6258 8231 or 0422 212 783
Genevieve Turville, ANU Public Affairs, on (02) 6125 6125 or 0416 249 245
41/2002
© 2000 Marketing & Communications Division,
The Australian National University.
Questions or Comments?
Last Modified Tue, July 16, 2002
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