Beijing condemned Washington and Canberra today for bolstering their military alliance, declaring that the planned deployment of hundreds of US troops in the Northern Territory in mid-2012 runs “counter to the era’s trend of peace, development and co-operation.”
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said: “Any strengthening and expansion of military alliances is an expression of the cold war mentality.”
On November 16 US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced after talks in Canberra that the US will deploy up to 2,500 soldiers to northern Australia.
The first deployment of around 250 US marines will be sent to Darwin in mid-2012, kicking off a rotating six-month presence of as many as 2,500 US troops.
Ms Gillard and Mr Obama also agreed to enhance co-operation between the US and Australian air forces that will result in increased rotations of US warplanes through northern Australia.
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