Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • In early 2014, three Chinese warships headed straight for Australia in what Chinese officials

  • later called a simple military exercise. The ships never left international waters, and

  • they

  • eventually turned around, but the message to Australia was clear: China is powerful.

  • One expert

  • called the event a “wake up call for [Australian] defense planners”. So, is Australia in danger?

  • Exactly how powerful are they?

  • Australia is strong, but it’s not a global force. The nation is surrounded by water,

  • which is

  • patrolled by the Australian Defense Force, the largest military in Oceania. However,

  • the nations

  • that make up Oceania are relatively small. Australia only ranks 20th on the Global Firepower

  • List, behind smaller countries like Indonesia, Poland and Taiwan. Its greatest power may

  • lie in

  • their defense. Australia’s remote location makes any invasion difficult and costly.

  • The Australian defense budget is large, and is slated to grow by over 6% to almost 30

  • billion

  • in 2015 and plans are set for more growth in the upcoming years. But this increase seems

  • to be

  • reactionary, trying to keep up with their trading partner and neighbor China, who has

  • steadily

  • increased their military spending over the past 30 years, specifically growing their

  • navy to the

  • second largest in the world. 80% of China’s oil shipments travel through the Indian Ocean,

  • which Australia also shares with other major world powers like India and Pakistan. Some

  • may

  • see Australia as geographically isolated, but an increase in activity in the waterways

  • around

  • them has forced their military to grow larger.

  • Another aspect of Australia’s power comes from careful alliances. The United States

  • remains

  • Australia’s closest military ally, but Australia is also forging stronger economic ties to

  • Indonesia

  • and China. China is Australia’s largest trading partner and over half of Australia’s

  • natural

  • resource exports go to China. Their strong economic ties most likely ensure peace between

  • the

  • two nations, despite occasional military posturing on both sides.

  • Australia is also part of many peacekeeping organizations like the UN, the G20, which

  • they

  • recently hosted, and the East Asia Summit, which includes major world powers like the

  • US,

  • Japan, Russia and India. This complex diplomacy with other nations is symptomatic of countries

  • like Australia, Canada or Norway, referred to by some ascreative middle powers”.

  • They have

  • the ability to work with my different countries, big or small, on very important issues.

  • Australia is also economically strong. They had the 12th highest GDP in 2014 but, there

  • are

  • signs that may not last. Their mining industry is currently taking a hit. Australia is home

  • to major

  • deposits of Iron Ore, Gold, Uranium and is the worlds leading supplier of Bauxite. All

  • in all, the

  • profits from mining make up 10% of the country’s total GDP. The price of these resources has

  • plummeted, partly due to the slowing of China’s economy, again Australia’s biggest trading

  • partner. So Australia does wield some economic power, but with their dollar at a five year

  • low,

  • they may be headed towards a recession.

  • Australia may never become a superpower, but it will remain a steadfastly independent and

  • well-protected nation that has the ability to influence major world issues.

In early 2014, three Chinese warships headed straight for Australia in what Chinese officials

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it