While military planners in the United States and Japan think and rethink how to defend Taiwan against an invasion by communist China, Australian defense planners have other fears. Their top concern is that the Chinese regime’s resurgent nationalism and rapid naval buildup are aimed as much at Australia as they are at Taiwan, if not more so.
Aussies Grow Suspicious of China
According to a recent Lowy Institute poll, their fears aren’t unfounded. Just as in 2022, about 75 percent of Australians think China poses a military threat to Australia at least within the next 20 years.
But some strategists, including some in Australia, believe it could be much sooner.
The thinking on the Chinese regime’s military plans for Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region varies from country to country. Japan, for example, has linked its own security to that of Taiwan. The Japanese government policy is that an attack on Taiwan is an attack on Japan and that Japan would respond militarily to defend Taiwan.
The United States, on the other hand, has struggled to maintain its “strategic ambiguity” policy concerning the defense of Taiwan against a Chinese invasion. There are questions as to whether the United States is, in fact, still capable of defending Taiwan against an overwhelming Chinese military engagement, including a numerically superior naval presence and hypersonic anti-ship missiles.
