Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday said that a US-led war with China cannot be ruled out given Beijing’s aim of a forceful takeover of Taiwan.
Talking to Sky News, Dutton, who is currently on a visit to the US along with Foreign Minister Marise Payne, said that both China and America have very clear but different intentions toward Taiwan and that the “onus” will layover with Beijing to prevent any major conflict.
The global political temperature has been rising ever since the US and the UK made decisions to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. A new alliance between the three Anglo nations has been formed called AUKUS amidst China’s growing dominance in world politics.
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"The Chinese ... are very clear of their intent with regard to Taiwan, the United States has been very clear of their intention toward Taiwan. Nobody wants to see conflict but that really is a question for the Chinese," Dutton said.
He then talked about the importance of an alliance emphasizing the fact that Australia is relatively a small country population-wise.
“We’re a small population of 25 million relatively and we need to make sure we’ve got the best friends in the world and we do in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and many partners beyond that,” he added.
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These blunt remarks from the Australian minister came after China reportedly deployed its fighter jets over a renegade province in Taiwan as a show of force. Beijing has adopted a strong policy towards Taiwan, vowing to 'reunify' Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Meanwhile, the US, as retaliation to China’s stance on Taiwan, passed the Congressional Taiwan Relations Act which identified the Asian country as a sovereign nation.
Dutton's reference to US intention toward Taiwan alludes to the Congressional Taiwan Relations Act, which requires Washington to "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character," and "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
The formation of AUKUS has raised several eyebrows in Europe with countries like Germany and France eyeing discontent towards growing alliances of the US in the Indo-Pacific region. Concerns of diluting NATO to increase their influence in the Indo-Pacific region to fight China’s growing influence around the world has also settled in.
