Joint army exercises with China 'a possibility'
Brendan Nicholson, The Australian, November 22.
AUSTRALIA and the US have embraced the idea of future joint military exercises with Chinese forces in the Top End.
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In Bali during the ASEAN summit, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raised with Julia Gillard the possibility of Australia and the US inviting China to take part in exercises as a way to reduce tension with Beijing over the presence of marines in Darwin.
US ambassador Jeffrey Bleich told The Australian yesterday that inclusion of units from the People's Liberation Army in exercises was the sort of co-operation that could ultimately emerge as the US military training presence in Australia was stepped up.
Asked if he could envisage exercises in which Chinese soldiers trained in Australia with those from the ADF and the US, Mr Bleich said that was possible.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Dr Yudhoyono's proposal of trilateral exercises involving Australia, China and the US were "interesting and a positive suggestion for possible consideration in the long term".
Mr Bleich said the US had made it very clear to China that it wanted to bolster military ties between the two countries. "The more we share information, the more we train together, the more we communicate, the less likely it is that anyone's going to misunderstand one another," Mr Bleich said.
"And if issues do arise it's much easier to pick up the phone and talk to someone who you know, who you've worked with, who you trust to resolve those issues.
"That's part of what training accomplishes. It gives you a rapport, an understanding and a trust between forces."
jIl moH ghajjaj jaghHomlIj!
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