Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Australia has ‘absolutely not’ committed to join US in event of war over Taiwan, Marles says

Defence minister says Aukus deal does not include arrangement to join US in a potential future conflict with China

Australia has “absolutely not” given the US any commitment as part of the Aukus negotiations that it would join its top security ally in a potential future war over the status of Taiwan, the deputy prime minister has said.

Richard Marles made the comment as he continued to defend Australia’s multi-decade plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, with help from the US and the UK, at a total cost of up to $368bn between now and the mid-2050s.

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11:11 193月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’

Multiple sources present confirm the remark was made, but it is unclear if it was made sarcastically

A Chinese embassy official asked Australian officials during an Aukus briefing whether the nuclear-powered submarines were intended for “sightseeing”, according to multiple sources.

Guardian Australia understands several others in the room found the intervention curious, because the Australian government has made no secret of the fact the nuclear-powered submarines are to be used by the Royal Australian Navy.

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15:59 163月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Australia seeks talks with global nuclear watchdog to allay Aukus fears

Government has promised not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel as part of the nuclear-powered submarine program

The Albanese government has requested formal talks with the global nuclear watchdog to allay any concerns Aukus could lead to undeclared nuclear activities in Australia or the diversion of enriched uranium.

The government has also invited senior officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit Australia this year, attempting to head off a fresh campaign from China, which urged the body not to fall for “high-sounding rhetoric”.

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16:27 153月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Penny Wong hits back at China’s claim Aukus nuclear submarines will fuel an arms race

Foreign minister set to visit south-east Asia and the Pacific to reassure countries Australia does not seek to escalate military tensions

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has hit back at China’s response to Aukus, insisting that its criticisms of the nuclear-powered submarine deal are “not grounded in fact”.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Wong also signalled that she planned to make further visits to south-east Asia and the Pacific to reassure the region that Australia does not seek to escalate military tensions.

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15:14 143月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
War in Ukraine will not distract European allies from Indo-Pacific, German air force chief says

Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz suggests that Europe’s commitment to Australia and other partners in the region needs to be ‘really visible’

Germany’s air force chief has said his country is determined to visibly demonstrate its increased focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

Even as Nato countries seek to deter further Russian aggression in Europe, Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz said countries that stood for freedom and democracy “really have to cooperate in Europe the same as in Asia”.

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07:00 23月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Australian justice appointed to Hong Kong court argues foreign judges shouldn’t ‘vacate the field’

Exclusive: Some legal figures have raised concerns about message his appointment sends in light of Beijing’s crackdown on freedom in Hong Kong

The former Australian high court judge Patrick Keane has dismissed criticism of his appointment to a top Hong Kong court, saying he weighed up the role carefully but believed foreign judges should not “vacate the field”.

Legal figures have noted Keane’s eminent record, but some raised concerns about the message his appointment sends in light of Beijing’s increasing crackdown on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.

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16:05 171月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Anthony Albanese to push ‘family-first’ security treaty in address to Papua New Guinea parliament

Australian PM to call for ‘a swift conclusion to negotiations’ to treaty and say both countries should ‘work as equals with our fellow Pacific states’

Anthony Albanese will seek progress on a new security treaty during a visit to Papua New Guinea, pushing a “family-first approach” amid increasing competition with China for influence in the Pacific.

On Thursday the Australian prime minister will become the first foreign government leader to address PNG’s parliament and will say he sees the relationship as “a bond between equals”.

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20:30 111月, 2023
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
‘Starting to warm up’: Chinese state media welcomes Wong visit after Coalition’s ‘stupid’ policies

Foreign minister says in Beijing she will press for detained Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun ‘to be reunited with their families’

Chinese state media is urging Australia to resist being “swayed by Washington” and to “show verbal goodwill and substantial actions” on the eve of Penny Wong’s visit to Beijing.

Two state media outlets published editorials that may give an indication of the Chinese government’s wishes for the next steps in what the Australian government calls a “stabilisation” of the relationship.

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15:08 2012月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Dfat bungle delayed visas for former Afghan embassy employees at risk from Taliban

Exclusive: Freedom-of-information investigation reveals error in urgent submission to then minister Marise Payne

A file number bungle by an Australian government department caused a four-week delay in helping some Afghan citizens at risk of retribution from the Taliban as the militant group swept to power in Afghanistan, Guardian Australia can reveal.

A freedom-of-information investigation reveals the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade prepared an urgent submission for the then minister Marise Payne asking for a decision about a group of former embassy employees within three days.

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05:00 27月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Thaw or cold war: will Labor succeed in unfreezing Australia-China relations?

The new government has struck a different tone with Beijing but the same difficult problems – from trade to the Indo-Pacific – remain

After the end of a two-year diplomatic freeze between China and Australia, the new Albanese government is embarking on a grand experiment: is a different tone enough to get the relationship on a better footing?

Gone are Peter Dutton’s blunt declarations that Beijing wants to turn countries like Australia into tributary states, as is the prediction Australia would almost certainly join any US-led military action to defend Taiwan against invasion.

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05:00 186月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Penny Wong ramps up Pacific lobbying effort as she flies out to Samoa and Tonga

Foreign affairs minister tells regional leaders ‘we understand we need to work together like never before’ as battle for influence with China intensifies

Penny Wong is embarking on her third international trip since being sworn in as foreign affairs minister and will travel to two more Pacific countries – Samoa and Tonga – as Australia and China vie for influence in the region.

Before boarding her flight on Wednesday evening, Wong said Australia would “increase our contribution to regional security” and work together with Pacific countries “like never before”.

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17:28 16月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Kevin Rudd attacks ‘idiot’ Peter Dutton over ‘hairy-chested’ comments on China

Former Labor PM says if China wanted a reset with Australia he ‘could not think of a dumber thing to do’ than the Solomon Islands deal

Kevin Rudd has launched a personal attack on Peter Dutton, labelling the defence minister an “idiot” for believing hairy-chested commentary about China would improve Australia’s strategic circumstances.

The former Australian prime minister also took aim at Beijing, saying that if Chinese officials really wanted a reset in the relationship with Australia he “could not think of a dumber thing to do than what they just did in the Solomons”.

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08:54 125月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Solomon Islands PM suggests Australia’s reaction to China security deal is hysterical and hypocritical

Manasseh Sogavare says he wasn’t told about Aukus pact until it was public while Scott Morrison accuses counterpart of parroting China’s lines

The prime minister of Solomon Islands has accused the Australian government of hypocrisy over his country’s security deal with China, saying the Aukus pact was far from transparent but he “did not become theatrical and hysterical”.

Manasseh Sogavare said Solomon Islands and other countries in the region “should have been consulted to ensure that this Aukus treaty is transparent since it will affect the Pacific family by allowing nuclear submarines in Pacific waters”.

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14:22 294月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Australia’s foreign minister denounces China’s ‘secret’ security deal with Solomon Islands

Marise Payne says other members of the ‘Pacific family’ share concerns but she rejects claims her government ‘dropped the ball’ in the region

Marise Payne has denounced the “secret” terms of China’s security deal with Solomon Islands, while insisting “no document signed and kept away from public view” would change Australia’s commitment to answering Pacific countries’ needs.

The foreign affairs minister said the agreement was “not transparent” – unlike Australia’s existing security treaty with Solomon Islands – and was also being hidden from other Pacific countries.

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14:57 284月, 2022
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
US military leader warns Chinese security deal with Solomon Islands sounds ‘too good to be true’

General David Berger raises concerns about Chinese influence while Australia’s Pacific minister asks Solomon Islands ‘to consider not signing agreement’

A senior US military general has warned during a visit to Australia that China’s offer to deepen security ties with Solomon Islands will come with strings attached, suggesting the Pacific island country may come to regret the planned deal.

“My parents told me if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” the commandant of the United States Marine Corps, general David Berger, said on Wednesday.

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18:30 134月, 2022
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