APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, November 10, 2010

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"APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, November 10, 2010", APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, November 10, 2010, https://nautilus.org/apsnet/apsnet-10-november-2010/

APSNet 10 November 2010

  1. Allies unite in bid to defend space assets
  2. Australia to balance China, US ties, says Stephen Smith
  3. Obama and China play rival suitors to Indonesia
  4. Indonesia: Red herring trial draws criticisms
  5. Six years later, army to pull out of Timor,
  6. US, Australian leaders canvass Kandahar plan
  7. Indonesia to buy attack aircraft, bombs
  8. Aussie, Afghan troops kill Taliban leader
  9. What was that in aid of? How Canberra is generous to a fault

1. Allies unite in bid to defend space assets, Cameron Stewart, Australia, 2010-11-09

Australia will join forces with the US to help protect satellite communications from deliberate sabotage. The move comes at a time when foreign powers such as China are increasingly asserting their authority in space. The joint partnership mentioned China as a country that had taken “deliberate actions” to disrupt the operating environment for satellites in space.

2. Australia to balance China, US ties, says Stephen Smith, AAP, 2010-11-08

Australia can manage both a critically important economic relationship with China and growing military ties with the US, says Defence Minister Stephen Smith. Mr Smith said Australia could balance this [US] alliance with the US and its vital economic relationship with China, despite worries about the rise of the new superpower.

3. Obama and China play rival suitors to Indonesia, Norimitsu Onishi, NYT, 2010-11-09

Less than a day before President Obama touched down in Jakarta, a high-level Chinese delegation wrapped up a three-day official visit here by announcing that Beijing would invest $6.6 billion in desperately needed infrastructure improvements. The announcement’s emphasis on roads, bridges and canals — not to mention its timing — laid down a not-so-subtle challenge to Mr. Obama: Show your Indonesian hosts the money.

4. Red herring trial draws criticisms, Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta Post, 2010-11-06

Activists condemned the military’s decision to hold a tribunal in Jayapura over an alleged torture video, calling it “misleading” and “a farce” to distract the public from the heart of the matter. The head of the Jayapura military tribunal, Adil K., said they would bring four soldiers to trial in relation with a torture video on YouTube, leading the public to believe that the defendants were the suspected perpetrators torturers of two Papuans in a video circulated on the Internet that created global outcry for its cruelty. The testimony of the defendants, however, revealed that the case was related to another video where the four defendants beat and kicked several residents of Gurage village in Puncak Jaya.

5. Six years later, army to pull out of Timor, Lindsay Murdoch, SMH, 2010-11-04

Australian troops will withdraw from East Timor in 2012 – six years after hundreds of them arrived in the half-island nation to quell violent upheaval. East Timor’s leaders, including the President, Jose Ramos Horta, have decided to end the deployment of the Australian commanded International Stabilisation Force (ISF) after elections in 2010 because the country’s security situation has stabilised, said Duarte Nunes, the head of East Timor’s parliamentary committee on defence and security. No announcement about the planned withdrawal has been made by the Gillard government or the Australian Defence Force.

6. US, Australian leaders canvass Kandahar plan, Daniel Flitton and Rafael Epstein, Age, 2010-11-10

A plan to deploy Australian special forces deeper into hostile Taliban territory at the risk of greater casualties was canvassed at this week’s summit of American and Australian political leaders in Melbourne. But the Gillard government is wary of being seen to boost Australia’s commitment in the increasingly unpopular conflict, and senior defence chiefs are concerned not to push too hard for a change.

7. Indonesia to buy attack aircraft, bombs, Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta Post

The government is set to sign a number of memorandums of understanding on defense equipment acquisitions involving a number of domestic strategic and defense companies. Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the MoUs would be signed on the opening day of the Indo Defense, which is to be held at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 10-13. Purnomo said the MoUs included the purchase of two standard squadrons of Super Tucano light attack aircraft to replace the Air Force’s aging OV-10 Broncos.

8. Aussie, Afghan troops kill Taliban leader, APP, 2010-11-09

Australian and Afghan security forces have killed a Taliban leader responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Oruzgan province. Defence said the successful Afghan National Security Force and Special Operations Task Group operation against insurgents in central Oruzgan on Saturday resulted in the death of Mullah Mohammadullah, a district-level Taliban leader.

9. What was that in aid of? How Canberra is generous to a fault,  Cynthia Banham, SMH, 2010-11-05

Australia’s foreign aid budget is expanding dramatically, and taxpayers should be worried. Not because aid has doubled in the past five years, to $4.3 billion, and will double again in the next five years, to $8.6 billion. Taxpayers should be concerned because the government does not have a clear plan for how it is going to use that money, and prevent it being wasted.

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