Albo stares down demand from Trump after major China warning

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken a defiant stand against America's push to increase the nation's defence budget.
Albanese was questioned about comments made by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urging for Australia to ramp up its military spending, at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore on Friday.
Hegseth met with Defence Minister Richard Marles on the sidelines of the meeting and warned China 's rapid military growth posed a potentially imminent threat to the Indo-Pacific region.
The Trump administration has pushed for Australia to increase its defence budget to three per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Labor's existing policy promises just 2.33 per cent of the GDP by 2033.
Albanese hit back at the request made by one of Australia's top allies while in Hobart on Sunday to open the Bridgewater Bridge.
'What we'll do is we'll determine our defence policy, and we've invested just across the forward [estimates], an additional $10 billion in defence. What we'll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region,' he said.
'Our position with regard to Taiwan is very clear, has been for a long period of time, which is a bipartisan position to support the status quo.'
The prime minister's response is in line with his previous position, but at odds with his deputy Marles, who revealed two days earlier that Australia would be 'very willing' to discuss a higher budget.
'I wouldn't put a number on it, the need to increase defence spending is something that he definitely raised,' Marles told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing program on Friday following his meeting with Hegseth.
'You have seen the Americans in the way in which they have engaged with all of their friends and allies asking them to do more and we can completely understand why America would do that.
'What I made clear is that this is a conversation that we are very willing to have, and it is one that we are having, having already made very significant steps in the past.'
However, Albanese doesn't appear to be 'willing' to discuss an increased defence budget with his comments on Sunday echoing his response to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
That report warned Australia could be left with a 'brittle and hollowed defence force' without increased funding.
'Well, that's what they do, isn't it, ASPI? I mean, seriously, they need to have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates,' Mr Albanese told the ABC following the report's release.
'We've had a defence strategic review. We've got considerable additional investment going into defence, $10billion.'
Meanwhile, Hegseth's speech in Singapore only angered the Asian powerhouse with a Chinese official accusing him of having 'smeared and attacked China'.
The official also accused America of being the 'biggest factor undermining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region'.
'The United States has deployed offensive weapons in the South China Sea, fanned the flames and created tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, turning the Asia-Pacific region into a "powder keg", causing deep concern among regional countries,' China's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added the US should 'not play with fire' by taking a stand on the Taiwan issue - referring to China claiming Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, as its own.
The comment was a direct response to Hegseth's warning any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences'.
Hegseth used his time on the Singaporean stage to state the US would not begin a conflict with but if deterrence failed, it was prepared to 'fight and win decisively'.
'There's no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,' Hegseth said.
Marles backed the speech on Sunday, denying accusations Hegseth's comments were not hostile in nature.
'We have worked with the US and other countries in the region over a long period of time to uphold the global rules to see that the way in which countries engage with each other is not based on a question of might and power, but rather on the basis of law and rules,' Marles said on Sunday.
Albanese first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump is likely to play out at the G7 Summit in Canada later this month.