By Andrew Martin

Australia has just held its biggest military exercises ever. The biannual exercises, known as Talisman Sabre, took place in Australia’s top end and into the Asia-Pacific (which imperialists now call the Indo-Pacific). The last Talisman Sabre exercise was also the largest up to that time. It appears that each time these exercises are held they will increase in size and intensity. According to the U.S Army, “this exercise is meant to illustrate the closeness of the U.S-Australia Alliance and the strength of the military-to-military relationship.” 

Talisman Sabre’s military drills simulate high-intensity conflict scenarios, including amphibious assaults, air strikes, and counterinsurgency operations. These exercises have happened before, but military analysts are saying these games are different. There is more of a focus on offensive operations; this was a serious preparation for war and although the threat of war is never named due to Australia’s absurd position of strategic ambiguity, no one in the world has any doubt that it was aimed directly at China. The international geo-political dimensions of these games are extremely ominous.

The exercises also herald greater integration and interoperability under U.S command with a record number of 40 000 troops from 19 different countries. The participants included United States, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom. Malaysia and Vietnam were also observer nations.

Australia’s newly purchased Abrams M1A2 battle tanks were used increasing the Australian Army’s mobility and firepower. For the first time a live firing exercise of U.S HIMAR rocket system and ATACM missile systems were used. The Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) also conducted a live-fire demonstration against maritime targets. ADF personnel were integrated into the Japanese electronic targeting systems.

The exercises were spread across a large amount of land and sea areas. While its main location was in Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, Talisman Sabre reached all the way to Papua New Guinea (the first time it has extended so far), with personnel embedded within Australian Army formations for amphibious landings and land combat. 

High-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) were launched from Christmas Island, according to Asian Military Review, the exercise spanned a wide area, encompassing over 5,300km from east to west. The exercises involved 80 Australian military bases from Jervis Bay in NSW to Curtin Airbase in WA.

The UK sent significant naval power including UK’s Carrier Strike Group 25, spearheaded by the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales including over 4 500 military personnel. No government department has released the cost of these exercises or details of the environmental damage that they have caused.

Many marine mammals and migratory species, including some that are critically endangered are threatened by these exercises. According to the Australian governments own reef authority, Shoalwater Bay supports the largest dugong population in the southern Great Barrier Reef as well as endangered Green and Loggerhead turtles. 

Perhaps ironically, the games also present a major biosecurity threat to Australia with thousands of tonnes of equipment and ammunition being brought into the country without scrutiny potentially introducing new pests and diseases. 

The Australian media and all government departments connected to the exercise have ignored the reckless damage that they cause. Rather they have spruiked the “boost to the economy” that they bring. Australia’s shamefully compliant media presents the exercises as a human-interest and good news story with interviews of participating troops and joyous local businesses waving U.S and Australian flags.

Whilst skirting around the threat to China, the message from Australia’s politicians is that they are committed to a “rules-based order”. This rules-based order is only mentioned in reference to countries that are outside the imperial core. For Australia, this simply means controlling the Asia-Pacific region; they’re quite able to turn a blind eye or offer only platitudes when it comes to genocide in Gaza for example. The message of the exercises, stated or not, is clear; Australia is prepared for war and that war is with its main trading partner, China. 

A Step Towards World War

Whilst framed as a “deterrent”, China has every reason to consider these exercises a threat to its security and its sovereignty. It will judge Australia by the principle of what it does and not what it says. The exercises are a serious political and military provocation. They tighten the grip of the imperialist stranglehold on China and can only be viewed as an effort to contain its attempts to increase its prosperity and the well-being of its people.

The U.S and Australia routinely conducts “Freedom of Navigation” exercises within several kilometres of China’s coast and territories controlled by China. They will not pay any heed to the empty words of a “rules-based order”. They will see these exercises for what they are; a preparation for a global conflagration that drags the world into a final showdown of destructive power so immense it is a threat to the existence of humanity.

And China will be forced to respond. It will increasingly monitor and patrol its maritime territories as the tension is ratcheted up. The South China Sea is one of the most contentious regions in the world, with overlapping territorial claims involving China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. China claims nearly 90% of the sea, including areas that are also claimed by other countries. It has been constructing artificial islands, building military installations, and deploying military assets to assert its dominance in the region.

China pursues this course because it is encircled by U.S. air-force and naval bases and countries (including Australia) closely aligned with U.S. imperialism. The U.S. maintains an extensive network of several hundred bases and facilities across Japan, South Korea, Guam, the Philippines, and the Indian Ocean, all strategically positioned around China’s borders and maritime approaches. Japan hosts about 120 U.S military bases, nearly 70% of which are on Okinawa alone (28 facilities), home to over 60,000 U.S. personnel. These are as close as 400 miles from the eastern Chinese coast.

The aggressive posture of Australia forces China to increasingly militarise its economy and accelerate its “military-civil fusion” (MCF). This MCF is seen as necessary to overcome technological blockades. China does this by extending dual-use capabilities of what it manufactures. Civilian innovations (AI, quantum computing, aerospace) have become strategically more important in China, precisely because of the mendacious grip of U.S. imperialism. The fusion also helps maintain economic growth as it’s directed by government agencies that prioritise development that is essential over frivolous and wasteful consumer commodities.

The exercises signal that Australia and the U.S are ready to act together in case of conflict, over Taiwan, the South China Sea, or other areas where China may assert its sovereignty. With the provision of nuclear submarines to Australia (if they arrive) the games and their implications will become ever more deadly. This forces China to retain its nuclear weapons, and it must. It knows very well the effects of imperialist intervention and what happens to countries that can’t defend themselves. It is now recovering from what it refers to as its “century of humiliation” and the trade war shows it has no intention of backing down to the United States.

If Australia is drawn into war with China, the consequences would be unimaginably catastrophic. There would be an unprecedented loss of human life. The immediate devastation and nuclear fallout would affect tens of millions of people – the global impact of a nuclear winter would kill hundreds of millions more. 

Humanity would likely never recover; in its place would be an apocalyptic scenario of death, destruction and disease and an obliteration of the human spirit. What it means to be human would change; this is the path imperialism is taking us, because it is an inhuman system driven by the compulsion to dominate for the sake of accumulation and power.

In contrast to Australia’s posturing, China’s military development is not targeted at any country, nor does it pose a threat to any nation. Its military policies are defensive and in general it has shown it is committed to resolving disputes through dialogue. Its main objective is to maintain security in the Asia-Pacific region in a way that allows for its peaceful development. 

Where Australia has locked itself into the imperialist nuclear machine, China has consistently advocated for complete nuclear disarmament and peaceful conflict resolution. Australia and its people would do well to learn from its example.