‘Take it seriously': Huge China warning
The Prime Minister spent much of last week touting Australia's trade, tourism and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu.
Securing peace through economic interdependence was a strategy the EU used with Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union – a ploy that ultimately came back to bite the bloc when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.
General Onno Eichelsheim is in Australia for Talisman Sabre – annual war games hosted by the Australian Defence Force, and said the country should 'get ready for something that you hope will never happen'.
Speaking to the ABC, General Eichelsheim said Australia should not ignore the parallels between China and Russia. Dutch defence chief Onno Eichelsheim is urging Australia to boost its military spending. Dutch Ministry of Defence / Handout Credit: Supplied
'You should look at the facts that are around you … if Russia tells us that they want to have more, more influence, than take that seriously,' he said.
'And if you see in this case in this region, China building up, take it seriously and get ready for something that you hope will never happen.
'If you prepare for war, you can avoid war. And that's how we look at it.'
During a press conference in China, NewsWire put to Mr Albanese that there were similarities between his approach to managing the relationship with Beijing and Europe's pre-Ukraine war approach to managing its relationship with Moscow.
He denied there was.
'Our relationship is very different,' Mr Albanese said.
'And I don't think you can translate one thing across some other part of the world of which Australia is not a participant.'
The Trump administration has called on the Albanese government to hike defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, warning of an 'imminent' threat to the Indo-Pacific.
The concern is driven by China's constant war drills around Taiwan and rapid military build-up, including a massive expansion of its atomic arsenal. NewsWire asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese if he was concerned China posed a similar threat to China as Russia did to the EU. Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer / NewsWire Credit: NewsWire
As of mid-2024, China's operational nuclear warheads exceeded 600, according to the US Department of Defense.
That was nearly triple what the country was estimated to have in 2020.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has said build up was sparking 'security anxiety' in Australia.
But Mr Albanese and his government have been firm to resist calls, both domestic and international, to boost the Australian Defence Force's budget.
General Eichelsheim, whose country recently agreed to hike defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP in line with most of NATO, said a GDP percentage was not the only important measure, but that Australia would need to do more one way or another.
'It's not about the percentage, it's about the capabilities,' he said.
'But inevitably, I think Australia has to increase its capabilities as well, if you look at the region, and the build-up in this case of China.
'Also, if they need to help out Europe, which (Australia is) actually already doing – if you look at the war in Ukraine, and supporting us there.'
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The two-year yield, which is more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations, was up one basis point at 3.7134 per cent, close to a three-month low of 3.659 per cent touched on Monday. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against the euro, sterling and four other counterparts, eased 0.2 per cent to 98.031, extending a 0.6 per cent drop from Wednesday. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1686, following the previous session's 0.7 per cent jump. Sterling rose 0.2 per cent to $US1.3378. The BoE looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months later on Thursday, but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Two Monetary Policy Committee members may push for a half-point rate cut, and two may lobby for no change. In commodities, spot gold added 0.3 per cent to $US3,376 an ounce, after earlier hitting its highest level in two weeks. with DPA Asian stocks mostly advanced on Thursday, with Japanese shares hitting a record high, as tech-led gains on Wall Street, upbeat earnings, growing hopes for a ceasefire in Ukraine and expectations for US rate cuts boosted sentiment. Markets largely shook off US President Donald Trump's latest tariff volleys, including an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India over purchases of Russian oil and a threatened 100 per cent duty on chips. "It's surprising that everything that gets thrown at the market that it just continues to melt-up," said Eddie Kennedy, head of bespoke discretionary fund management at Marlborough. Europe's STOXX 600 rose 0.5 per cent, with major indexes in Frankfurt and Paris up one per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. Britain's FTSE 100 was the outlier, dropping 0.3 per cent. In Asia, Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.7 per cent to a record closing high, with the more tech-focused Nikkei climbing 0.65 per cent. In China, stocks rose for a fourth straight day to close at a three-and-a-half year high as upbeat export data added fuel to the recent market rally. The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.2 per cent 3,639.67, the highest such close since December 2021. The blue-chip CSI300 index was little changed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.69 per cent. Taiwan's stock benchmark surged as much as 2.6 per cent to a more than one-year peak. Shares in chipmaker TSMC, which this year announced additional investment in its US production facilities, soared 4.9 per cent to a record high. The KOSPI added 0.6 per cent, with South Korea's top trade envoy saying Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would not be subject to 100 per cent tariffs. US S&P 500 futures rose 0.3 per cent. On Wednesday, the cash index climbed 0.7 per cent. "Wall Street seems to have gotten its mojo back," analyst Kyle Rodda wrote in a note. "However, there are persistent risks to the downside. Downside surprises in official data are increasing," he said. "Valuations are also stretched, with forward price to earnings hovering around the highest in four years. And trade uncertainty persists." The US dollar remained lower against major peers on Thursday, with expectations of easier policy from the Federal Reserve stoked both by some disappointing macroeconomic indicators - not least Friday's payrolls report - and Trump's move to install new picks on the Fed board that are likely to share the US President's dovish views on monetary policy. Focus is centring on Trump's nomination to fill a coming vacancy on the Fed's Board of Governors and candidates for the next chair of the central bank, with current Chair Jerome Powell's tenure due to end in May. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield was little changed at 4.2365 per cent. The two-year yield, which is more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations, was up one basis point at 3.7134 per cent, close to a three-month low of 3.659 per cent touched on Monday. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against the euro, sterling and four other counterparts, eased 0.2 per cent to 98.031, extending a 0.6 per cent drop from Wednesday. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1686, following the previous session's 0.7 per cent jump. Sterling rose 0.2 per cent to $US1.3378. The BoE looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months later on Thursday, but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Two Monetary Policy Committee members may push for a half-point rate cut, and two may lobby for no change. In commodities, spot gold added 0.3 per cent to $US3,376 an ounce, after earlier hitting its highest level in two weeks. with DPA
