US welcomes 'peaceful rise' of China, India: top diplomat

A senior United States diplomat in Australia has welcomed the rise of China and other Asian nations, while dismissing any perceived threat from the deployment of marines to Darwin.

Sydney-based US Consul-General Niels Marquardt, in Brisbane to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Coral Sea, yesterday talked up the strength of the US-Australia relationship.

But he acknowledged public support for the 10-year-long war in Afghanistan had declined over time as the death toll mounted.

In an interview with brisbanetimes.com.au, Mr Marquardt also described North Korea’s regime as “very odd” and difficult to understand, and declined to speculate about what action the US may take against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the future.

Relations between the US and China have been in the headlines this week due to the drama involving dissident Chen Guangcheng.

Mr Chen, a blind blogger who has raised concerns over forced abortions, escaped from house arrest last month and stayed at the US embassy in Beijing for nearly a week before leaving to be treated at a hospital.

Mr Marquardt said there were times the US had to stand up for its values.

“We have different values, we have a different political system,” he said of China and the US.

“We’re comfortable with these differences but there are times and this week was one of them when we needed to act in a way that was consistent with not just our interests but with our values.

“So it’s hard for me as an American diplomat to imagine any circumstance in which there was a threat to values about human rights where we would not be willing to speak up for our values.

“Now, we have to balance that with our interests, we have to balance that with our desire to solve many problems that require China’s engagement.”

Asked about continual talk about the 21st century belonging to Asia, Mr Marquardt said it was “clearly a fact” that the region was on the rise.

“It’s one of the most phenomenal developments of my lifetime, to see China rising out of poverty,” he said.

“It’s still a long way from giving its people the kinds of living standards that we in Australia and the United States are used to [but] there’s a lot of sort of hype around it.

“At some point the total GDP [gross domestic product] of China will surpass ours; they’re a billion people, we’re a third of that. That’s quite normal.”

Mr Marquardt said while China and the US had differences of opinion, they shared strong trade links. He said the US welcomed the “peaceful rise” of countries such as China and India.

“Most countries in Asia with a few exceptions like Burma have done extremely well in the last two decades, and this kind of prosperity is something we have promoted,” he said.

“We didn’t have a Marshall Plan for East Asia the same way we had one for Europe, but we’ve always had the view that countries that are more prosperous, that provide higher standards of living for their people and eventually become democracies which so many of them have, that those are all good developments that are consistent with our own objectives and interests.”

More than 2000 US troops are to be deployed to the Northern Territory for training over the next five years on a rotational basis, in a move some warned would inflame tensions in the region.

Mr Marquardt said the move was no threat to China.

“I think we’ve seen a number of pundits, not a large number but a few, that have tried to portray this as somehow directed at China,” he said.

“We’ve said at every occasion it’s about training with our Australian mates. We’ve got 180 Marines in Darwin today; 180 Marines is not a large number and what are they training for? They’re training to be capable in the wake of humanitarian challenges and natural disasters, the kinds of things we’ve done in the region for example after the 2005 tsunami.

“It has very little to with China per se. I mean there is a lot of trade that goes through the region. I think something like 50 per cent of global shipping passes through the South China Sea, but this is not the South China Sea.”

Mr Marquardt said Australia and the United States shared key values such as democracy, free markets, human rights, dignity of the individual.

“When push comes to shove, we have on repeated occasions in our shared history been willing to shed treasure and even human life to defend them,” he said.

He said the relationship between the two countries had never been better, and they shared a common view on many military and diplomatic issues.

However, he acknowledged the Afghanistan conflict had been trying, but said the work was crucial to ensure the country did not become a base for terrorist attacks such as those launched on September 11, 2001.

“I think any war in which you’re losing your compatriots, whether you’re American or Australian, is difficult and we’ve been in Afghanistan, both our nations, for 10 years now and that’s a long time and there’s no question every poll shows there’s dwindling popularity among the people for the presence there,” he said.

“We have a plan to withdraw from Afghanistan militarily by 2014.”

Mr Marquardt said there was “no magic wand whatsoever” for dealing with North Korea, which last year installed Kim Jong-Un as leader following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il.

“We’ve used carrots and sticks; we’ve engaged with them, we’ve provided food aid, we’ve at different times agreed to provide energy sources that were not nuclear,” he said.

“I mean we’re fully cognisant of the risks and dangers but we also realise we’re dealing with a very odd kind of regime that’s difficult to understand ; any time they do anything that appears bellicose, you know, I think we stand back and try to understand what the reasons are in terms of the domestic politics within Korea.

“We have a new leader who’s shoring up his own power base , that often explains why they do what they do, but it’s a very difficult challenge that’s not about to go away any time soon.”

Mr Marquardt would not comment on speculation the US would seek to bring Mr Assange to the US for trial over the disclosure of secret US documents on the WikiLeaks.

“We have made no announcements about Julian Assange and there have been no warrants that I’m aware of,” he said.

“This’ll have to play out on the basis of the rule of law in our country, but I’m not aware of any such thing at this time.”

Mr Marquardt will attend an event at Newstead Park at 10am today to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The battle, fought off the north-east coast of Australia in May 1942, involved US and Australian forces seeking to hold off the Japanese.

Despite the deaths of hundreds of US personnel, the battle is sometimes trumpeted as "the battle that saved Australia". Mr Marquardt said the battle stopped the Japanese march, preventing enemy troops from entering Port Moresby.

“This was really the beginning of the modern engagement between the United States and Australia on the military and security front,” he said.