SYDNEY: Australia’s defence force operations to protect its sea trade routes, including through the South China Sea, are becoming more risky as Beijing undertakes the “biggest military build-up in the world today,” Australia’s defence minister said on Tuesday.
Open sea lanes, including trade routes that go through the South China Sea and East China Sea, are at the core of Australia’s national interest, Richard Marles said in an opening speech at a navy conference in Sydney.
“That work is challenging and in truth, it is becoming increasingly risky. The biggest military build-up in the world today is China,” he told the Indo-Pacific conference.