By Ling Shengli
凌胜利
It is reported that the US and Australia recently reached a multi-billion-dollar arms sales agreement, and Australia will purchase more than 120 tanks and other armored vehicles from the US to enhance its military strength. Following the establishment of the AUKUS security partnership, US-Australia security cooperation continues to get closer, and its negative regional impact deserves attention.
据报道，美国和澳大利亚不久前达成一项数十亿美元的军购协议，澳大利亚计划从美国采购120多辆坦克和其他装甲车，以提升其军事力量。继建立美英澳三边安全伙伴关系之后，美澳安全合作继续“走近”，其对地区的负面影响值得关注。
As a staunch ally of the US, it is natural for Australia to purchase US arms. However, looking back on the US-Australia security cooperation in recent years, the strengthening trend has become more obvious and it has the following three characteristics.
澳大利亚是美国的铁杆盟友，采购美国的军火也是日常操作。不过回顾近年来的美澳安全合作，强化的态势愈加明显，主要呈现出三个特点。
First, Australia's purchase of military equipment from the US continues to increase. According to Australia's new national defense strategy, military spending will be significantly increased to strengthen Australia's military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The increasing military spending will benefit US military industry interest groups. Last September , the US replaced France to provide Australia with nuclear submarines and grabbed a big order that originally belonged to France. This time, the major arms sales between Australia and the US are mainly armored vehicles and tanks. It is reported that Australia will purchase more than 1,300 heavy weapons and equipment from the US in the future, with an expenditure of up to $42 billion, which will also ensure that Australia is one of the top buyers of US arms.
一是澳大利亚从美国采购的军事装备不断增加。澳大利亚新版国防战略表示要大幅增加军费，加强澳大利亚在印太地区的军事力量。澳大利亚不断增加军费开支势必使美国军工利益集团大为受益。美国日前取代法国为澳大利亚提供核潜艇，抢得原本属于法国的大订单。此次澳大利亚与美国签署的军购大单，以装甲车、坦克为主。据报道，未来澳大利亚将从美国购买1300余辆重型武器装备，开支高达420亿美元。这也将确保澳大利亚成为美国数一数二的军备出口对象。
Second, the cooperation between US and Australia in military bases and military drills continues to strengthen. In recent years, the construction of US military bases in Australia has been continuously strengthened, and Australia has even spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve its military bases in the north to strengthen US-Australia military cooperation. According to foreign media reports, an airport runway in Australia's Northern Territory will be extended to support large aircraft, and a shooting range will be refurbished to create new training facilities for the Australian Defense Force and the US Marine Corps. Military exercises between the US and Australia are also becoming more frequent, covering different services of the army, navy and air force and involving almost all subjects from logistics cooperation to joint operations.
二是美澳军事基地与军事演习合作日益加强。近年来美国在澳大利亚的军事基地建设不断加强，澳大利亚甚至不惜花费数亿美元改善其北部军事基地以便加强美澳军事合作。据外国媒体报道，澳大利亚北领地的一处机场跑道将被延长，以支持大型飞机起降，一个靶场也将被翻修，为澳大利亚国防军和美国海军陆战队建立新的训练设施。美澳之间的军事演习也日益频繁，覆盖陆海空不同军种，几乎涉及从后勤协作到联合作战所有课目。
Third, the scope of “US-Australia+” multilateral cooperation continues to expand. Australia has continuously expanded its security cooperation on the basis of the US-Australia alliance. Through multilateral security cooperation such as the AUKUS, the US-Japan-Australia, and the US-Japan-India-Australia, Australia's role in the Asia-Pacific security network of the US has been strengthened. Recently, the security cooperation between Japan and Australia has been significantly heated up under the coordination of the US. The signing of the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement will increase the scale and intensity of joint military training and operations between the two countries, and set guidelines to allow the two countries to send troops to each other.
三是“美澳+”多边合作范围不断拓展。澳大利亚在美澳联盟基础上不断拓展安全合作关系，通过美英澳、美日澳、美日印澳等多边安全合作，澳大利亚在美国亚太安全网络中的作用得到强化。近期，日本和澳大利亚的安全合作在美国的撮合下明显升温，日澳《互惠准入协定》的签署，将提高两国联合军事训练和行动的规模和强度，并使两国互派部队到对方境内更加有章可循。
Both the US and Australia get what they need through increasing security cooperation. In fact, Australia has followed the US since World War II, and the two sides have formed a very close security cooperation relationship. Australia believes that the most reliable way to deal with uncertainties in the Asia-Pacific is to strengthen the US-Australia alliance. By purchasing a large number of US arms, Australia has continuously strengthened the US military presence in Australia and can closely maintain the US-Australia alliance. For the US, it has become more dependent on alliance relations and paid more attention to the use of allies based on the strategic consideration of great power competition . Moreover, Australia is particularly active in acting as a cat's-paw in the US Asia-Pacific strategy, and the US even takes advantage of this opportunity to encourage Australia to pull chestnuts from the fire.
美澳不断加强安全合作，实际上是双方各取所需。对于澳大利亚而言，其二战以来一直追随美国，双方形成了极为密切的安全合作关系。澳大利亚认为应对亚太地区的不确定性，最可靠的方法是加强美澳联盟。澳大利亚通过大量购买美国军火，不断增强美国在澳的军事存在，可以更加紧密地维持美澳联盟关系。对于美国而言，基于大国竞争的战略考量，美国对联盟关系更加依赖，更加注重对盟国的利用。而且，澳大利亚对于在美国亚太战略中充当“马前卒”尤为积极，美国更是借机利用，鼓动澳大利亚为其“火中取栗”。
It needs to be pointed out that both the US and Australia adhere to the Cold War mentality and narrow geopolitical concept, hyping the so-called China threat to seek excuses for the strengthening of their alliance. This is against the trend of the times, not conducive to regional security and stability, and against the will of most countries in the Asia Pacific region for peaceful development, thus, it will surely meet more opposition.
需要指出的是，美澳双方秉持冷战思维和狭隘的地缘政治理念，不断炒作所谓的“中国威胁”，为其联盟强化寻找借口，既违背时代潮流发展，更不利于地区安全稳定，违背亚太地区多数国家的和平发展意愿，必将遭到更多反对。
(The author is director of the Center for International Security Studies , China Foreign Affairs University)
（作者系外交学院国际安全研究中心主任）
