1. Brendan Nelson addresses the Australian Defence Magazine Conference
2. Containing China a Big Mistake: Alexander Downer
3. Secret Software May Crash Fighter Deal
4. Iraq: The Doomed Adventure
5. RI Queries Rice on Security Program
6. Special Report: In Depth on the India-US Nuclear Agreement

Policy Forum 06-07A: Trilateral Congregation – Condi Rice’s attempts in “Containing” China? – Yeo Lay Hwee and Lim Tai Wei

1. Address to the Australian Defence Magazine Conference, Brendan Nelson, MIN140306/06 Transcript, 2006-03-14

   We should strive to be a country that values the health and integrity of human life as much as achieving our economic objectives, to be an outward looking, intensely competitive yet compassionate country, reconciled with its indigenous history, in view of values of hard work, self sacrifice and tolerance.

   Australia’s defence strategic outlook is firstly about protection in defence and security in Australia, and its interests. Five per cent of Australians are overseas at any one time. Increasingly Australian companies, large and not so large are operating offshore. We have a responsibility to see that they are secure and that they’re protected. Geography is important. I mean why are Australians leading the push along with the UN and others for freedom in East Timor? Because geography is important.

   But so too, security and stability in areas like the Middle East are important to us as Australians, and indeed as human beings. We as Australians have always taken the view that if people are being oppressed, and there is a need to overcome it perhaps either with military support, then that’s our role. The threats to our neighbours are threats to us, and we have a responsibility not only as human beings, but also as responsible neighbours to support the security of our neighbours in our own region.

   http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/NelsonMinTranscripttpl.cfm?CurrentId=5469

2. Containing China a Big Mistake: Alexander Downer, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2006-03-16

   Pursuing the containment of China would be a big mistake, warned Alexander Downer yesterday as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Sydney for a three-day visit.

   http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18482800%255E601,00.html

3. Secret Software May Crash Fighter Deal, John Kerin, AFR*, 2006-03-16

   Australia has joined the UK in threatening to walk away from the $256 billion US-led joint strike fighter project unless Washington agrees to share the secrets of its stealth technology.
   * Subscription required.

   http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/newsSearch.ac?ac=search&sy=afr&ss=AFR&dt=selectRange&so=relevance&sp=0&rc=10&dr=1month&pb=fin&sf=article&kw=Secret+Software+May+Crash+Fighter+Deal&go=go

   • Jet Downgrade to Be Investigated, But Sale Still On: Nelson, Craig Skehan, SMH, 2006-03-15

     http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/jet-downgrade-to-be-investigated-but-sale-still-on-nelson/2006/03/14/1142098468035.html

4. Iraq: The Doomed Adventure, Hugh White, Age, 2006-03-14

   The failure in Iraq is not a failure of execution; it’s a failure of conception. The occupation and political reconstruction of Iraq was not a good idea badly implemented. It was a bad idea that no amount of administrative skill, political savvy, cultural sensitivity or military firepower could have made work.

   http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/iraq-the-doomedadventure/2006/03/13/1142098401936.html?page=fullpage

5. RI Queries Rice on Security Program, Ivy Susanti, Jakarta Post, 2006-03-16

   In a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in the afternoon, her Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda questioned Washington’s proposal for the country to participate in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiatives (PSI).

   http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060315.@01

6. Special Report: In Depth on the India-US Nuclear Agreement
   India’s Gas Centrifuge Program: Stopping Illicit Procurement and the Leakage of Technical Centrifuge Know-How [PDF], David Albright and Susan Basu, Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), 2006-03-10

   Indian nuclear and government officials have stated that India has an “impeccable” nonproliferation record. Officials go so far as to claim that India does not engage in illicit nuclear procurement and has an exemplary record of preventing nuclear secrets from falling into the wrong hands. ISIS has uncovered a well-developed, active, and secret Indian program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries’ export control efforts. In addition, ISIS has concluded that Indian procurement methods for its nuclear program leak sensitive nuclear technology.

   Click to access indianprocurement.pdf

   • Australia Must Hold The Line On Uranium, Ian McPhee, Age, 2006-03-16

     http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/australia-must-hold-the-line-on-uranium/2006/03/15/1142098528103.html

   • U.S.-India Pact Recognizes Reality of Nuclear Politics, David Sneider, San Jose Mercury News, 2006-3-12

     http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/editorial/14081053.htm

   • India Is Not a Precedent: Circumstances Justify the ‘Double Standard’ of Our Nuclear Deal, Robert Kagan, Washington Post, 2006-3-12

     http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/10/AR2006031001865.html

   • Our Opportunity with India, Condoleezza Rice, Washington Post, 2006-3-13

     http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/12/AR2006031200978.html

   • The Wrath of Khan: How A. Q. Khan Made Pakistan a Nuclear Power – and Showed that the Spread of Atomic Weapons Can’t Be Stopped, William Langewiesche, The Atlantic Monthly, November 2005

     http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200511/aq-khan

   • The Point of No Return, William Langewiesche, The Atlantic Monthly, Jan/Feb 2006

     http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200601/aq-khan

   • Australia Must Hold The Line On Uranium, Ian McPhee, Age, 2006-03-16

     http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/australia-must-hold-the-line-on-uranium/2006/03/15/1142098528103.html

7. Austral Policy Forum 06-07A: Trilateral Congregation – Condi Rice’s attempts in “Containing” China?

   Yeo Lay Hwee and Lim Tai Wei of the Singapore Institute of International Relations argue that after US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called on its Pacific allies to help “produce conditions in which the rise of China will be a positive force in international politics, not a negative force”. Rice’s comments are seemingly at odds with those of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s and seemed to have given Australia’s game away. It remains to be seen how China’s suspicions of Australia’s security role would affect Australia in the context of latter’s increasing economic dependence on China.”

   Trilateral Congregation – Condi Rice’s attempts in “Containing” China?

Subscriptions

Austral Peace and Security Network is issued late on Mondays and Thursdays (AEST) by the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.

To subscribe to the free APSNet service, just visit: http://www.nautilus.org/mailman/listinfo/apsnet. If you have any trouble, please contact the editor, Jane Mullett: austral@rmit.edu.au

APSNet is a sister publication to:

• SEAPSNet: Southeast Asia Peace and Security Network (SEAPSNet) News is a twice weekly news summary by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. It focuses on peace and security issues particularly those related to terrorism and regional cooperation.
  Information about SEAPSNet and SEAPSNet subscriptions.

• NAPSNet: The Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network (NAPSNet) Daily Report provides summaries peace and security issues in the Northeast Asia region.
  Information about NAPSNet and NAPSNet subscriptions.

• AESNet: The Nautilus Institute Asian Energy Security Network (AESNet) delivers useful and new information on Energy Security issues in Asia in a bi-weekly list-serv.
  Information about AESNet and AESNet subscriptions.