Australian Strategic Policy Institute Senior Analyst Malcolm Davis says Australia’s strategic geography could “fundamentally change” due to East Timor and China’s relationship strengthening.
China and East Timor upgraded their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership, which could potentially give Beijing more influence over the region.
“Essentially what we’re seeing is China trying to create nodes of political, economic and commercial presence in the Southwest Pacific that essentially create places that could then be turned into military bases down the track,” he told Sky News host Amanda Stoker.
“So we’re not yet at the point of PLA forces operating out of the Solomons or East Timor or Vanuatu, but that could happen in the coming years.
“We would be facing for the first time since 1942, potential for Australian cities to come under direct attack from an enemy very close to our shores.”
