Australia and Papua New Guinea strike deals to counter China

Guardian Nigeria

Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed a sporting deal accompanied by strategic and confidential security pact that is designed to counter Chinese influence in the region.

Transcript

00:00Across Asia, growing friction at geopolitical flashpoints.

00:05South Korea and Japan say this North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile fired last

00:09month can hit anywhere on U.S. territory. And in the new year, Pyongyang is vowing to step up war

00:16preparations. Elsewhere in the South China Sea, China also last month fired water cannons at

00:22Philippine vessels as longstanding maritime tensions spilled over. Beijing said ties

00:28with Manila are at a crossroads. And in Taiwan, which China claims is its own, an election is

00:34just days away. Chinese officials, even Taiwan's main opposition party, have cast a vote as a

00:41choice between war and peace. None of these flashpoints are new. But as 2024 begins,

00:48what is changing is China's and North Korea's growing assertiveness, not to mention both

00:53countries' deepening ties with Russia. Three nuclear-armed states, three powers increasingly

00:59frustrated with a U.S.-led world order. Among Washington's partners in Asia,

01:04including here in Taiwan, all that's prompting a fundamental rethink of risk.

01:09Governments are scrambling to boost defense budgets and forge alliances around the region.

01:15Japan has passed a record defense budget for 2024. And despite historical grievances,

01:21Tokyo is drawing closer to South Korea, here conducting joint air patrols last year.

01:26On top of that, Japan and the Philippines will soon begin talks on access to each other's

01:31military bases, with the Philippines last year granting the U.S. access to four more of them.

01:38In Taiwan, this is one response to increased Chinese intimidation.

01:45The Brave Eagle, a domestically-made trainer jet used to prepare the next generation of fighter

01:50pilots like Jiang Kailin. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy before returning to Taiwan.

02:20And at this Taiwanese air force base, Washington's support is plain to see.

02:26Evolving threats to stability in Asia are posing bigger questions about whether that's enough,

02:31and if the scope of the challenge posed by adversaries of the U.S.

02:35might lead its allies in Asia to form a collective security pact, similar to NATO.

02:41Because now, nothing like NATO exists in Asia. NATO, which labelled China a systemic challenge

02:47for the first time in 2022, already has four partners in the Indo-Pacific,

02:52but those ties fall well short of collective defence full membership would guarantee.

02:58Countries of the Quad Security Dialogue have previously held joint military drills.

03:02The group also has no collective security pact,

03:05but China has long criticised it as an Asian NATO.

03:09And the U.S. maintains mutual defence treaties with these countries in the region.

03:14NATO has previously shied away from strengthening ties with Asian partners,

03:18mostly over fears of angering China. But with Beijing's military might now rivalling the U.S.,

03:24for many, the reality has changed. And if China and North Korea's forceful actions continue,

03:30some say a NATO-style pact in Asia, once inconceivable, could come closer to reality.

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