Australia to buy more than 100 tanks and armoured vehicles from the US at cost of 3.5 billion dollars in abide to counter China which is more than 9000 km away.
The 3.5 billion dollar deal will include 17 joint assault bridge vehicles, 29 assault breacher vehicles, 75 tanks and 6 armoured recovery vehicles.
According to Australian defence minister Peter Dutton, this deal reached with the US will help upgrade Australian military to be able to defend the country from aggressors.
Australia and China have been in disputes since April 2020 when Australian prime minister Scott Morrison requested world health organization to investigate China’s poor handling of covid-19 pandemic and also asked for compensation for the damages caused that didn’t sit well with leaders in Beijing.
China reacted angrily by banning some of Australian products from Chinese markets which included agriculture produce, meat, sea food and coal leading to Australia losing upto 20 billion dollars in exports to China last year.
The disagreements with China also involves technology and politics, in 2018, Australia was the first country to ban the use of Huawei 5G technology citing national security issues which angered Beijing.
The signing of AUKUS deal between Australia, US and UK also increased tensions further as Australia is posed to receive 8 nuclear powered submarines from both UK and US as a means of deterrence against China in South China Sea.
Although the disputes between China and Australia has intensified, China remains Australia’s largest trading partner accounting for more than 40% of Australia’s export.
China also remains the biggest buyer of Australia’s iron ore accounting for more than 70% of China’s iron ore imports. China’s reliance on Australian iron ore has prevented both countries from total decoupling in trade sofar but things may deteriorate in future if the relations between China and Australia continue this way or China gets alternative to Australia’s iron ore.
