Marles says China's military build-up is creating "pressure" in Southeast Asia

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday that China's military build-up was creating a "condition of pressure" in Southeast Asia. He called on allies and partners to deepen their cooperation, CNA and The Straits Times reported.

Marles was speaking to reporters in Cebu, on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian defence ministers in the Philippines. "We're obviously seeing the biggest conventional military build-up that the world has seen since the end of the Second World War from China," he said. He added that China had given no explanation for it, "and all of that is creating the condition of pressure."

He said Beijing's growing assertiveness was "providing challenges" for Canberra and that Australia relied on the existing rules-based order. "For a middle power like Australia, it is actually the rules which give us agency," he said.

Marles also met the "Squad", an informal defence and security group made up of Australia, Japan, the United States and the Philippines. He said the four countries committed to greater coordination of defence policy and that all of them understood the pressures being felt in the region. "Now is a time to double down on friends and to double down on neighbours and to be working more closely together to provide for our collective security," he said.

China deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol disputed areas of the South China Sea. It claims almost all of the sea, even though an international ruling found its position has no legal basis. The Japan Times, in a summary of its report, also described the claim as lacking legal basis.

CNA and The Straits Times, which carried an AFP report, said China's assertiveness and its militarisation of artificial islands in the South China Sea had pushed Canberra and Washington to deepen defence cooperation with some Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines is a close security partner of Australia and has been in confrontations with China at sea for years.

In July, Australia protested against a Chinese test of a nuclear-capable missile in the South Pacific and called the launch "destabilising". Earlier this month, Manila said China's military and coast guard presence in contested areas of the South China Sea had nearly doubled in September.

Sources: CNA, Australian defence chief says China military buildup creating 'pressure' in Southeast Asia; The Straits Times, Australian defence chief says China military buildup creating ‘pressure’ in South-east Asia; The Japan Times, China’s military creating ‘pressure’ in region, Australian defense chief says.