Mỹ thúc giục Úc cùng nhau trập trận trên Biển Đông
Hiện nay, Úc cùng Mỹ và Nhật đang rầm rộ tập trận trên biển Đông để vạch mặt Trung Cộng và chứng minh Biển Đông là biển chung của Đông Nam Á, không chỉ riêng của Trung Cộng mà bấy lâu nay như chúng lộng hành, từng tuyên bố.
Đầu tháng Bảy năm nay, ông Mark Esper - Bộ Trưởng Bộ Quốc Phòng Mỹ kêu gọi các nước Đông Nam Á kể cả Việt Nam hãy cùng nhau đứng lên lấy lại chủ quyền lãnh hải của mình đã bị Trung Cộng chiếm giử.
Đây là cơ hội có một không hai cho Việt Cộng lấy lại Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa hay chúng vẫn âm thầm tuân theo lệnh của tên bán nước Phạm văn Đồng?
29-07-2020
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US official urges Australia to participate in South China Sea freedom of navigation operations
By foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic and defence correspondent Andrew Greene
28/07/2020
The Federal Government is under renewed pressure to muscle up to China in the disputed South China Sea ahead of crucial meetings between top US and Australian officials this week.
Last week, the ABC revealed that Australian warships encountered the Chinese navy while sailing through the region to the Philippine Sea for training exercises with the American and Japanese navies.
Australia has now hardened its position against Beijing's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, labelling the activity illegal in a statement to the United Nations.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne will be likely to discuss the regional flashpoint with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defence Secretary Mark Esper at annual AUSMIN talks in Washington.
The US has been conducting an increasing number of freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the South China Sea and has made no secret that it would like to see other nations — including Australia — do the same.
"We would always like to see more like-minded countries participate because then it builds that international consensus and puts pressure on the PRC [People's Republic of China] to conform to that international consensus," said one senior US official.
Successive Australian governments have directed naval vessels to sail through the South China Sea, but never within 12 nautical miles of land features claimed by Beijing.
In his biography, the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said his government never sent naval vessels within the 12-mile limit because he feared they might be rammed or disabled by the Chinese navy.
"If the Americans backed us in, then the Chinese would back off. But if Washington hesitated or, for whatever reasons, decided not to or was unable immediately to intervene, then China would have achieved an enormous propaganda win, exposing the USA as a paper tiger not to be relied on by its allies," he wrote.
"My judgement was that given the volatile geopolitical climate at the time, especially between the USA and China, it wasn't a risk worth taking."
'This is China against like-minded nations'
But the US senior official said if more nations conducted operations in the region it might actually reduce tensions in the region by "removing the US-China binary from the equation".
"This is not China against the US as they like to portray it, this is China against like-minded [nations]" they said.
"Whether another country does a FONOP or just sail together or do more joint operations … that reinforces the message that we are standing up for the rules-based order and China is the one diverting from that."
Debate over the Chinese Government's behaviour in the crucial trade waters of the South China Sea flared up again as the broader contest between Washington and Beijing intensifies.
Earlier this month, Defence Secretary Mark Esper flagged the US navy would continue to sail through the region and would help other states in the region to push back against Chinese naval aggression.
"In 2019, we conducted the greatest number of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea in the 40-year history of the FONOPS program, and we will keep up the pace this year," he said.
"We want to strengthen our relationships in the region so that South-East Asian countries can maintain and defend their own waters."
Meanwhile, Australia anticipates an angry reaction from Beijing over its new legal stance disputing the Chinese Government's claims of sovereignty.
The hawkish Chinese Communist Party tabloid The Global Times has already accused Australia of "recklessly making provocations" and warned Chinese leaders could respond by putting trade sanctions on Australian wine and beef.
The US Ambassador to Australia Arthur B Culvahouse Jr praised the Federal Government's legal statement.
He said, "Australia's robust and ongoing leadership in the region helps secure our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific".
