The collapse of Soviet power removed China's main strategic threat, and in doing so removed China's strategic dependence on the United States. 14 Far from being natural strategic partners, China and the United States are natural geostrategic opponents who were driven into an alliance of convenience in the 1970s by Moscow's growing reach and ambition. Problems stem from the nature of the regime in Beijing. Regimes which enjoy a monopoly of power at home are wont to use force abroad.
Australia's contribution to US maritime security
The United States still needs bases and allies in order to maximize the advantages inherent in maritime power. Complementary American and Australian defense activities in the Western Pacific contribute to a balance of power that helps protect regional countries' independence, as well as freedom of the seas.
During the Cold War, America's alliance with Australia was a vital link in a global chain of maritime power that cracked the Soviet Union in its continental imperium. Australia was a reliable source of allied force increments, military access, and political and strategic cooperation in the Southeast Asia/Southwest Pacific area. While America needed allies hard up against the Soviet Union in order to bring maritime power to bear on a continental adversary, distant allies such as Australia were vital in enhancing the advantages of strategic mobility and flexibility.
Maritime choke points
In the 1970s and 1980s, America's post Vietnam strategic paralysis, as well as British withdrawal East of Suez, beckoned the USSR into the Indian Ocean, not least from Vladivostok. Contributing to the Western response to Moscow's blue water ambitions, Royal Australian Aircraft (RAAF) P-3 Orion long range maritime patrol aircraft began operating from the RAAF base at Butterworth, near Penang, in the north of the Malayan peninsula. Operation Gateway continues to provide allied surveillance of parts of the eastern Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. 15 These arrangements have built upon the 1951 Radford-Collins agreement between the US and Australian navies, which was established to provide for the maritime security of the Indian Ocean and the Southwest Pacific. 16
Australia's alliance with the United States makes it a more valuable security partner for the Southeast Asians, including Singapore, which trains much of its air force in Australia. Singapore, of course, occupies a vital strategic position astride the Southeast Asian straits. Singapore's determination to keep the United States strategically engaged in Southeast Asia is demonstrated by the island's long-standing defense links with the United States. Since the closure of the US bases in the Philippines in 1992, Singapore has hosted important US logistic facilities. Early in 1998, Singapore announced that its Changi Naval Station, to be operational in 2000, will include a pier specifically built to accommodate US aircraft carriers.
