Posted on 12/09/2010 11:35:39 PM PST by Dundee
THE Rudd government publicly played down reports of a hostile Chinese reaction to the defence white paper released last year, while secretly briefing the US that Beijing had threatened Australia would "suffer the consequences" if references to China were not watered down.
The revelations of China's true reaction to the paper released in May, which called for a substantial boost in Australia's air and naval power in response to China's increasing military presence in the region, are revealed in secret US government cables written in the same month...
The cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and released to the Herald, show US officials contrasting public comments by the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, that China had no problems with the white paper, with a private briefing given to them on China's real reaction by the then deputy secretary of the Defence Department and co-ordinator of the white paper, Mike Pezzullo.
...The cable reported Mr Pezzullo telling US diplomats of being "dressed down" by the deputy director of foreign affairs in China's defence ministry, Major-General Jia Xiaoning.
...Major-General Jia "demanded Australia make changes to the paper or suffer the consequences"...
Another cable, ...describing Major-General Jia ...had a "look of cold fury" on his face at China's repeated mentions in the white paper.
...the Chinese asked Pezzullo to revise the description of the regional security environment...
"Pezzullo said he responded firmly that the white paper would not be changed, and that he had not come to negotiate it."
...Japan's reaction to its briefing on the white paper, with its vice-minister of defence reportedly "shocked" by Australia's intentions to double the size of its submarine force to 12...
The vice-minister did a 'double take' and noted that Japan had only 16 submarines...
(Excerpt) Read more at bordermail.com.au ...
Making those sorts of threats to Aussies just guarantees that they will do whatever it is you don't want them to do.
I wish the world would stop buying the crap they produce, and just let China collapse.
Me too ... except for the World Cup!
One can see just how strong China is getting. Until now, they only tried to run the military of Taiwan - now it seems that they don’t mind telling countries as far away as Australia what is acceptable.
FYI Japan announced in late October they're expanding from 16 to 22 subs.
China to Australia:
“If you don’t stop saying I’m a bully, I’ll BEAT YOU UP”.
Kangaroo in a china shop
Kangaroo in a china shop
Good one!
I love Australia. I love the Australian people. I have family there. I think of them often. I would like to tell China what I think. Being I could offend them (China), I will keep my thoughts to myself this A.M. I have already made a terrible mistake on another thread yesterday. I had best not tick off China, at this time. Another time China may draw my wrath, should China do something for which my wrath should be unleashed. I sit like a tied up dog, after having received my whipping, this A.M. I will remind China that this dog can, once in a while remove the leash, if necessary.
China is going to stop selling them cheap crap?
The Chinese outnumber the Aussies 65 to 1.
A fair fight.
Me too. Every dollar we spend just makes our enemy stronger. And make no mistake, China IS our enemy and they'll take us on just as soon as they think they're strong enough.
It would be a fair fight if the Aussies hadn’t outlawed their guns.
The defense umbrella Obama is holding has sprung a lot of holes.
Australia and New Zealand are part of the ANZUS defense treaty ( and yes, US stands for USA ).
So far, only the Aussies are committed to a strong military ( not sure about the Kiwis ).
When I was living there for a few years, they had the Australian Submarine Project, the Australian Frigate Project, the Jindalee Over the Horizon Radar Project and a whole host of F-16 fighter purchases.
They are also increasingly being asked by the UN to shoulder peace and order in their area ( they had to send troops to defend the East Timorese from the Indonesians ).
And oh yeah, the Israelis and Singaporeans do joint military excercises with the Aussies ( a lot of them in the outback ).
So yes, military build-up is right. But what are the Chinese complaining about ? Self-defense is the right of every country.
You know, the wikileaks thing is a mixed blessing.....
Some of this stuff is good to know.
And the nice thing is, is the libs can’t blame it on the Tea Party or right-wing extremist kooks as they would if some conservative group leaked it.
B-O-O H-O-O.
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