In this context a letter from my son-in-law to The West Australian says it all:

“..most of our politicians express great concern over China’s establishment of a military base in the South China Sea.  Why is it, one is compelled to wonder, that we are unable to acknowledge that whilst a nation such as the United States is permitted to have “Strategic Interests” everywhere in the world, China’s modest expansion is unequivocally condemned?

“The US has more than 700 bases in 38 foreign countries.  China has one.  The US has 95% of all the world’s overseas bases.  The US empire has a quarter of a million military personnel serving at these bases.  China has a few hundred.  With its overseas bases covering close to a quarter of a million hectares, the US military is one of the world’s largest landowners.  China has a few miserable hectares.  The US military budget in 2015 was US$600 billion (that’s a whopping 54% of US Federal government discretionary spending; compare that to the measly 3% it spends on Social Security and unemployment).  Of the $1.7 trillion spent worldwide on military expenditures, the US accounts for 37% of that spending – outspending the next nine largest military budgets around the world combined.

“The US has a permanent war economy and has been at war somewhere in the world pretty much constantly.  So, who should we fear?”

Dear EmperorJulian,

I take it you think Australia should support the China.

Hi Jules,

So what ? Aggression is aggression, no matter how much territory a country already controls. Unless, of course, you think that every country should have a go at being an imperialist aggressor ?

It is illegal to claim shoals and reefs. End of.

Joe

Yep, aggression is aggression, and when it occurs we should support its victims or stay out of it. Who has China attacked? Whose homeland has it invaded? Who are its victims?

We should have supported the victims of American aggression against Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. And Iraq. And Libya. And Syria (yes, overwhelming military support for armed mainly foreign regime changers is aggression).

We should stand firm on our rejection of American demands that we join it in a military challenge to China in the atolls. And if we are going to get excited about Chinese incursions into uninhabited reefs beyond China we should be getting a hell of a lot more excited about aggressive direct and proxy American military incursions into populated countries throughout the Middle East and much of Africa. To say nothing of bullying military threats to countries not yet invaded.

We still owe the world an apology over our connivance with the American proxy invasion and occupation of East Timor using Indonesian war criminals. Nobody who paid any attention could mistake ongoing Portuguese support for East Timor. Where did Australia ever stand? Gareth Evans may be able to tell us.

The time to stand up against China is when it commits actual aggression against any real country. And on the victims' behalf, not America's.

Recently I attended a series of seminars as part of the "Securing our Future in Cyberspace Conference" hosted by the Australian National University (ANU). This gave me inspiration for new material to teach ICT Ethics at ANU: "Cyberwar: Hypothetical Scenario for Teaching ICT Ethics: http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2016/02/cyberwar-over-south-china-sea.html

ps: It happens that in 1997 I found myself as a civilian on-board the USS Blue Ridge, flagship of the US 7th Fleet: http://tomw.net.au/nt/tt97.html

Hi Jules,

Bit of a non sequitur: the Yanks yada yada, all quite true - and China improperly building up shoals a thousand miles from its own territory, firing on and sinking Vietnamese boats, clearly intent on taking over the whole South China Sea - two different issues.

My recollection about the struggle of the people of East Timor is of the US, in 1999, fully backing General Cosgrove and the Australian peace-keeping troops there. But my memory is long enough to remember how the Labor Party sold out the East Timorese to the Indonesians. Remember Balibo ?

Joe