The
US military plans to station B-1 strategic bombers and surveillance
aircraft in Australia as part of efforts to deter Chinese ambitions in the
South China Sea, a senior US government official has revealed, apparently
pre-empting any announcement by the Australian government.
During testimony before the US
Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, US Defence Department
Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear
announced that in addition to the movement of US Marine and Army units around
the Western Pacific region, "we will be placing additional Air Force
assets in Australia as well, including B-1 bombers and surveillance
aircraft."
The US plan comes as the Obama
administration moves to boost US naval forces and air power in the South
China Sea to assert the right of free passage and challenge China's efforts to
buttress its maritime territorial claims through the construction of airfields
and artificial islands.
The B-1 Lancer bomber, commonly
called "Bone" (originally from "B-One") was first deployed
by the US Air Force in the mid 1980s and is expected to continue as a strategic
bomber until the mid 2030s.
US B-52 bombers have
previously been temporarily deployed to Darwin, to take part in exercises
with the Royal Australian Air Force, in 2012 and in late 2014, as a consequence
of a joint Force Posture Initiative agreed by former prime minister Julia
Gillard and US President Barack Obama in 2011.
About 1150 US Marines began
arriving in Darwin this week for six months training during the Top End's dry
season. The marines are the fourth rotation of US troops deployed to the
Northern Territory since 2011. The plan is to gradually increase the
number of US Marines rotating through Darwin to 2500 troops by 2017.
Disclosed ahead of any
statement by the Australian government, the US plan to deploy B-1 bombers and
surveillance aircraft to Australia comes as part of the US military's
broader "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific region.
Assistant Defence Secretary Shear
made it clear on Wednesday that the US intends to challenge China's claims to
sovereignty over large parts of the South China Sea.
"We claim the right of
innocent passage in such areas, and we exercise that right regularly, both in
the South China Sea and globally," Mr Shear told the Senate Foreign
Relations committee.
Similar views were expressed by
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel,
who also told the Senate committee "No matter how much sand you pile on a
reef in the South China Sea, you can't manufacture sovereignty."
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has
voiced "serious concern" about the US officials's remarks.
Spokeswoman Hua Chunying
told a press conference on Wednesday that China supported freedom of navigation
in the South China Sea but "freedom of navigation does not give one
country's military aircraft and ships free access to another country's territorial
waters and airspace."
She said China would
"resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty" and urged the
US "not to take any risks or make any provocations."
The Australian Defence Department
has not yet commented on the US announcement.
Fairfax Papers
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