PRESS RELEASE: Former Australian Ambassador to China Says USA is preparing Australia for War with China

John Lander, Deputy Ambassador to Beijing during 1974-76, addressed the “Committee for the Republic,” a distinguished gathering of American scholars, analysts, and writers, on January 18, 2023, and began his remarks by saying, “The United States is not preparing to go to war against China. The United States is preparing Australia to go to war against China.” Lander postulates that current USA policy desires to contain China’s rising economic power, exemplified by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and tying China down with a costly proxy war using Australia is seen as the way to do it.

John Lander’s presentation differs sharply from the views most observers are accustomed to hearing from Australia. Instead of applauding the US military buildup in Australia and Asia against China as necessary for Australia’s security, Lander asserts these US-inspired martial preparations are deliberately antagonistic and undermine Australia’s security.

During his remarks, delivered by video teleconference, Lander describes the Australia-New Zealand-United States treaty:

“the ANZUS treaty, usually referred to in reverential tones as ‘The Alliance,’ has been elevated to an almost religious article of faith against which any demur is treated as heresy amounting to treachery.”

Even so, Lander points out that unlike NATO, or the treaty with Japan, the ANZUS treaty offers no actual guarantee the USA will defend Australia, merely that the USA will consult on appropriate means of support in the event Australia is attacked. Nevertheless, “The Alliance” has generated the following consequences:

* American investment in Australia is ten times greater than Chinese
* Every major Australian company across the resource, food, retail, mass media, banking and finance sectors has majority American ownership.
* the defence industries in Australia are now largely owned by US weapons corporations
* the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance has captured Australia’s intelligence and policy apparatus

The result is the USA is able to swing Australian policy to support America in almost all its endeavours, Lander argues.

Lander recounted the current war preparations and included:
* 2500 American soldiers in Darwin with Australian Defence Forces, practicing for war, soon to be joined by the Japanese Defence Forces
* Establishment of a regional US headquarters in Darwin for the Indo-Pacific command
* Proposed stationing of six nuclear-weapons-capable bombers at the RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory
* Proposed acquisition of eight nuclear submarines at a cost of $170 billion for hunter/killer operations in the Taiwan straits
* Construction of a new $10 billion deep water port for US nuclear submarines

Lander commented that many other analysts and commentators (outside the governing elite and including himself) argue that these arrangements effectively cede Australian sovereignty to America.

Australia needs an independent foreign policy, Lander insisted.

All these military preparations are based on the false premise that China is a military threat. China has not invaded anywhere, it has never proposed the use of forces against other countries, and it has “three no’s” in its constitution: no military alliances, no military bases around the world, and no use or threat of use of force. Its defence budget is one-third that of the United States and the military bases it has constructed in the South China Sea pale into insignificance in comparison with the hundreds of bases that the US has ranged all around China.

So, why does the US consider China to be a “systemic threat?” Lander answers that it is because of China’s determination to revamp the global financial system to make it fairer for developing countries. And the Belt and Road Initiative has made China the largest creditor in the world, so it has the clout to accomplish such a reform.

After his initial presentation of about 20 minutes, a lively question-and-answer session ensued. The Committee for the Republic is a non-partisan organisation and represents a dissenting faction of the US intelligentsia that opposes the current Washington commitment to geopolitical conflict and regime-change wars.

A video of the entire dialogue can be seen here: