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DEFENCE Minister Stephen Smith has confirmed that Australia and the US are actively discussing future joint military exercises with Indonesian and Chinese forces in the Top End.
Mr Smith said the possibility of such exercises was among the issues raised at yesterday's meeting of Australian and Indonesian foreign affairs and defence ministers in Canberra.
Mr Smith recalled that, after the announcement during US President Barack Obama's visit to Darwin last year that a Marine taskforce group would train in northern Australia, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suggested that Australia, the US and Indonesian forces should exercise together.
"I've also seen suggestions subsequently that maybe you could have Australia, US, Indonesia and other countries, including and, in particular, China," Mr Smith said. "We spoke about this in passing today, and we don't discount that down the track."
Mr Smith said the focus now was to use the East Asia Summit humanitarian assistance and disaster relief framework to build the necessary links with Indonesia and other nations in the region.
During last November's ASEAN summit in Bali, Dr Yudhoyono raised with Julia Gillard the possibility of Australia and the US inviting China to take part in exercises as a way to reduce tension with Beijing over the presence of marines in Darwin.
US ambassador Jeffrey Bleich told The Australian then that inclusion of units from the People's Liberation Army in exercises was the sort of co-operation that could ultimately emerge as the US military training presence in Australia was stepped up.
"The more we share information, the more we train together, the more we communicate, the less likely it is that anyone's going to misunderstand one another."
"And if issues do arise it's much easier to pick up the phone and talk to someone who you know, who you've worked with, who you trust to resolve those issues."
A delegation of senior Chinese officers headed by the deputy chief of general staff of the PLA, General Ma Xiaotian, visited Australia last year to discuss a plan for enhanced defence engagement over the next two years.
On Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia wanted to ensure there was no repeat in the Asia-Pacific region of Cold War-style tactics designed to contain an emerging power.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
Mr Smith said the possibility of such exercises was among the issues raised at yesterday's meeting of Australian and Indonesian foreign affairs and defence ministers in Canberra.
Mr Smith recalled that, after the announcement during US President Barack Obama's visit to Darwin last year that a Marine taskforce group would train in northern Australia, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suggested that Australia, the US and Indonesian forces should exercise together.
"I've also seen suggestions subsequently that maybe you could have Australia, US, Indonesia and other countries, including and, in particular, China," Mr Smith said. "We spoke about this in passing today, and we don't discount that down the track."
Mr Smith said the focus now was to use the East Asia Summit humanitarian assistance and disaster relief framework to build the necessary links with Indonesia and other nations in the region.
During last November's ASEAN summit in Bali, Dr Yudhoyono raised with Julia Gillard the possibility of Australia and the US inviting China to take part in exercises as a way to reduce tension with Beijing over the presence of marines in Darwin.
US ambassador Jeffrey Bleich told The Australian then that inclusion of units from the People's Liberation Army in exercises was the sort of co-operation that could ultimately emerge as the US military training presence in Australia was stepped up.
"The more we share information, the more we train together, the more we communicate, the less likely it is that anyone's going to misunderstand one another."
"And if issues do arise it's much easier to pick up the phone and talk to someone who you know, who you've worked with, who you trust to resolve those issues."
A delegation of senior Chinese officers headed by the deputy chief of general staff of the PLA, General Ma Xiaotian, visited Australia last year to discuss a plan for enhanced defence engagement over the next two years.
On Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia wanted to ensure there was no repeat in the Asia-Pacific region of Cold War-style tactics designed to contain an emerging power.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
