Report: US Considering Deploying B-52 Bombers to Australia Amid Tensions With China
US B-52 bomber flies across East China Sea with two Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) F-15 fighters
In 2021, tensions between the US and China were kicked up a notch after the then-signed AUKUS agreement paved the way for the Aussie government to be provided with technology capable of deploying nuclear-powered submarines.The US military is reportedly weighing the possibility of deploying multiple B-52 bombers to Australia in a bid to create a long-term hub in the region amid the Biden administration’s ongoing tensions with China.Citing insiders familiar with the developments, the Australian Broadcasting Corp revealed that approximately six bombers would be stationed at the remote Tindal air base in Australia’s Northern Territory.Documents detailed that a “squadron operations facility” would include a parking area for the bombers and an adjoining maintenance center. The services are expected to be used during the territory’s dry season.At present, the region already plays host to various joint military exercises with US forces on a near-annual basis, a collaboration that was first undertaken during the Obama administration. Although US-China tensions have remained heated for quite some time, ties between the two nations reached a near-boiling point in early August when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) opted to pay a visit to Taiwan.
US-China Tensions Over TaiwanSingapore Calls for Stable US-China Ties Amid Taiwan Tensions1 August, 12:04 GMTAt the time, talk remained high that China was planning to “invade” Taiwan, a self-governing island nation that Beijing sees as a wayward province and a matter of its own domestic policy. With Beijing’s official policy envisaging a peaceful unification of Taiwan with mainland China, the Communist Party opposes any official contacts between the island and nations. Beijing has repeatedly said that the One-China principle is a political foundation of China-US relations and that violations by Washington of its own obligations have been jeopardizing cooperation between the two countries, while posing a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.Moments after Pelosi touched down in Taipei, China’s foreign ministry underscored that Pelosi’s actions severely impacted already shaky relations between the US and China.Nearly three months after the Taiwan trip, concerns are yet again on the rise over how a B-52 deployment to Australia might be received by China.”It’s a great expansion of Australian commitment to the United States’ war plan with China,” Richard Tanter, a senior research associate at the Nautilus Institute and a long-time, anti-nuclear activist, told the outlet. “It’s a sign to the Chinese that we are willing to be the tip of the spear.”The official further stressed that when compared to the regular deployments of US Marines in the Northern Territory, the presence of B-52s was far more significant, and proved “a more open signal to the Chinese that we are going along with American planning for a war with China.”News of the potential deployment comes as the US is already in the midst of building a $270 million jet fuel storage facility on the outskirts of Darwin, which is located some 200 miles from the Tindal base.
