At the heart of the strategy is the development of a fleet of surface ships and nuclear submarines that are difficult to detect.
< p>On April 17, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles presented the country's first national defense strategy. Gospodarka Morska reports on this.
The basis of the strategy was the development of a fleet of nuclear submarines equipped with stealth technology; tripling of key missile assets; as well as the creation of a large fleet of surface ships.
50 billion Australian dollars will be allocated to the defense strategy over 10 years. Marles explained that the main goal of the initiative — protection of trade routes and weakening of "coercive tactics" from Beijing.
"An invasion of Australia is unlikely under any scenario, (however) an adversary could do a lot of damage without even setting foot on Australian soil", as the country depends on trade and , for example, imports 85% of fuel from South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia», — noted the minister.
At the same time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged Australia to refrain from making accusations against China.
"China does not pose a threat to any country, — Lin Jian pointed out. — We hope that the Australian side can look at China's development and strategic intentions in the right light, abandon the Cold War mentality and do more to protect peace and stability in the region.