‘Is he scared of meeting Trump?': John Howard slams the PM for his ‘bad ordering of priorities'
'I think it's a good thing that the Prime Minister is going to China and that he has a working relationship with the Chinese President,' Mr Howard told Sky News Australia.
'But I think it's a very bad thing, a very bad thing, that he's still not had a face-to-face meeting with the new American president.
'We will always be closer to the Americans because we share values, and the closeness of values binds countries together more tightly than anything else.
'Poor form to say the least, is he scared of meeting him?'
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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy says ADF is prepared if Chinese spy vessels attempt to observe Talisman Sabre exercises
Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy says ADF is prepared if Chinese spy vessels attempt to observe Talisman Sabre exercises
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Aus prepared for Chinese spies at war games
Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy says the Australian Defence Force is prepared for China to observe the major Talisman Sabre military exercises between the United States and Australia and would 'adjust accordingly'. While Mr Conroy said the most 'up-to-date information' was that Chinese surveillance vessels had not yet been spotted, he said it 'would be unusual' for that activity not the occur given Beijing have done so since 2017. The biennial war games involve more than 30,000 military personnel from Australia and the US, plus 19 partner nations including New Zealand, the UK, Japan, Papua New Guinea and France. The activities will run from Sunday to August 4 in locations across Queensland, Western Australia, NSW, the Northern Territory and for the first time since the games began in 2005, Papua New Guinea. 'People observe these exercises to collect intelligence around procedures, around the electronic spectrum and the use of communications, and we'll adjust accordingly so that we manage that leakage,' he said. Chinese spy ships were spotted at the last Talisman Sabre exercises in 2023. Supplied/ Defence Credit: Supplied Mr Conroy, who also holds the portfolio for defence industry and Pacific Island affairs, said the likely involvement of Chinese surveillance would also allow Australia and its allies to practice how to convey that information, and repeatedly stressed the ADF was ready. 'I think it'll be a two way process, but when we conduct these exercises, we're always cognisant that they're being observed by people who want to collect information about how we work with our allies, how we communicate with our allies and partners, and you manage that accordingly in a sensitive way,' he said. 'That's what the Australian people would expect our Australian Defence Force to do, and we'll continue to do that. 'But again, I'll say the Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017 and it'd be very unusual if they didn't do that this time.' The question of China's presence at the significant war games comes as Anthony Albanese arrives in China for a six-day trip, in which he will need to balance Australia and China's $312bn economic trade relationship with recurrent geopolitical tensions. This comes after Chinese warships were spotted circumnavigating Australia's exclusive economic zone in late March, and an incident in February in which commercial Virgin pilots alerted Defence of the Chinese navy conducting live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea. Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy said it would be 'unusual' for China not to spy on the Talisman Sabre events. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia While Foreign Minister Penny Wong reportedly raised the security issue with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi while in Malaysia on Friday, Mr Conroy would not confirm or deny whether the Prime Minister would do the same. However he said the government has repeatedly and publicly raised concern of China's 'very significant' military build up, and reiterated calls for more transparency around its actions. 'We've been very clear, both publicly and privately, that we thought that China should have provided more notice about its live firing exercise,' he said. 'We normally give 12 to 24 hours notice before a live firing exercise, they gave notice, but we regarded that as insufficient. We'll continue to articulate and raise that, both publicly and privately.' Mr Albanese touched down in Shanghai on Saturday evening and while the first leg of his trip will focus on promoting Australia's tourism links with China, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to Beijing.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Australia rejects US call to declare Taiwan war role
Australia has rebuffed calls to declare what role the nation would play in a potential war with China over Taiwan, with a minister saying it won't automatically follow the US into a future conflict. Washington is reportedly pushing both Japan and Australia to clarify their positions for a hypothetical conflict over the democratically-government island, which Beijing considers part of its territory. Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy on Sunday reiterated the nation's long established stance on whether it would choose to join the US in war. "The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance," he told ABC's Insiders program. "Sovereignty will always be prioritised." Elbridge Colby, a key Pentagon strategist, has been pressing defence officials from both countries to declare their positions in meetings over the issue, according to a report in the Financial Times. He is also leading a US review of its nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the three-nation AUKUS partnership following concerns the plan to supply the vessels would harm the American navy. The US will be among 19 countries participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, which begins on Sunday and will involve 30,000 defence force personnel. The event was the nation's most important joint military exercise with the US, Mr Conroy said, and it was expected to be closely monitored by China after the Asian superpower observed the last four such operations. "We will obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we'll also adjust how we conduct those exercises," he said. "People observe these exercises to collect intelligence around procedures, around the electronic spectrum and the use of communications." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese landed in Shanghai late Saturday, kicking off a six-day tour which will focus on economic and security issues. Defence analysts have flagged Mr Albanese will likely raise live-fire drills conducted by the Chinese military off Australia's coast earlier in the year after Beijing failed to notify authorities ahead of time. The Chinese flotilla also circumnavigated the country in a projection of power. But Mr Conroy would not be drawn on whether Mr Albanese will directly raise those concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders sit down during his second visit as prime minister.
