China Warns Possible B-52 Deployment in Australia May ‘Trigger Regional Arms Race’

The Pentagon’s purported push for stationing strategic bombers in Australia comes against the backdrop of US-China tensions over the Taiwan issue, which escalated after Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August.

China has accused the US of undermining regional stability as Beijing reacted to media reports about US plans to deploy nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in northern Australia.

Commenting on the issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters on Monday that defense and security cooperation between countries should “not target any third parties” or harm their interests.

He added that “the relevant US behaviors have increased regional tensions, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and may trigger an arms race in the region.”

“China urges the parties concerned to abandon the outdated Cold War and zero-sum mentality and narrow-minded geopolitical thinking, and to do something conducive to regional peace and stability and enhancing mutual trust between the countries”, Zhao emphasized.

He spoke after an Australian news outlet reported the US military is weighing the possibility of deploying an array of B-52 strategic bombers to Australia in a bid to create a long-term hub in the region amid the Biden administration's ongoing tensions with China.

The outlet cited unnamed insiders as saying that up to six such bombers would be stationed at the remote Tindal air base in Australia's Northern Territory.

The Beijing­-Washington tensions over Taiwan escalated in early August, when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island despite China’s warning of far-reaching consequences of the move.

Beijing condemned Pelosi’s trip, slamming it as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island. Even so, other high-level US delegations have since visited Taiwan in the face of Beijing’s stern rhetoric.

China perceives Taiwan as an integral part of its sovereign territory and opposes any official ties between the island and other countries. Washington maintains active contacts with Taipei and is selling billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Taiwan.

In September 2021, Australia, for its part, clinched a deal with the US and the UK within a trilateral security pact dubbed AUKUS. Under the pact, Washington and London pledged to help Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Wang Qun, China's permanent representative to the UN in Vienna, later told a Chinese media outlet that AUKUS is nothing but a blatant and irresponsible act of nuclear proliferation, something that once again proves that AUKUS countries are practicing a "double standard" on nuclear non-proliferation.