Former ambassador to China John Lander says Top End becoming a ‘potential threat’ to Beijing

The US military build-up in northern Australia is becoming an increasing “threat” to Beijing, says a former deputy ambassador to China, who believes we are being set up as the canary in the coal mine.

Former senior diplomat John Lander says China will view to northern Australia as a target due to heightened US military presence. Source: Australian Citizens Party, YouTube.

Northern Australia is “increasingly becoming a potential threat” to Beijing says a former deputy ambassador to China, who also expressed his concern southerners were naive to the scale of US military build-up across the Top End.

The cautionary words from John Lander comes after Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy announced the government would splash $7 billion to acquire medium and long-ranged missiles for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

During a visit to Washington DC last week, Mr Conroy said the Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC and Stand Missile-6 would be added to the navy’s arsenal of weapons amid “the greatest arms race in our region” since 1945.

Both air defence missiles are expected to be fitted out on the RAN’s Hobart-class destroyers and future Hunter-class frigates.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy speaking at a defence conference in Washington DC. Picture: Supplied

Mr Conroy said the investment was in line with the Defence Strategic Review’s objective to defend Australia’s northern maritime approaches.

“Our investment in these world-leading, hi-tech missiles is another example of the Albanese government moving fast to keep Australians safe, deter any adversary, and defend Australia’s national interests in the missile age.”

However, according to Mr Lander, who worked in the China section of the Department of Foreign Affairs throughout the 1970s and 80s, the new weaponry is just as likely to make northern Australia a target as it is act as a deterrent.

“From China’s perspective, I would definitely see Australia as increasingly becoming a threat to China,” Mr Lander told this masthead.

“They’ve already got the US navy parked on their doorstep, forces near Taiwan and now a military build-up in Australia – all designed to target China.”

A Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) fired during Exercise Pacific Dragon by a Hobart class destroyer in August 2024. Picture: Defence

In August, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin declared more US troops and assets would be deployed to Australia, with B-2 stealth bombers expected to be based out of RAAF Base Tindal in the future.

Mr Lander said he held deep reservations about the US military presence in Australia, with the former deputy ambassador maintaining the Top End was being weaponised by Washington DC in favour of American interests.

“The US is not preparing to go to war against China, it is preparing Australia to go to war against China,” he told a conference in Perth last week.

“It is preparing a number of countries in our region to be its proxies in such a war, as it has done using Ukraine in [the] war against Russia.”

The US fuel farm at East Arm could potentially be targeted by the Chinese, according to Mr Lander.

Mr Lander said the average voter was naive to the US military presence in “up north”.

“The likes of Sydney and Melbourne are a very long way away from Darwin, so people can often be psychologically removed from the problem,” he said.

“There is no physical presence of US military for most people in Australia, so they can remain complacent in grasping the reality of what is happening in our country.”

In the event a regional conflict were to occur, Mr Lander said various locations across the Territory could potentially be targeted by hypersonic missiles, including the East Arm fuel storage facility, RAAF Base Tindal, and the Pine Gap intelligence base.

Based on the commonwealth’s current trajectory, Mr Lander said he expected US military presence in northern Australia to reach WWII level.

“In the short term, I expect US presence to increase, that has been made very clear,” he said.

Originally published as Former ambassador to China John Lander says Top End becoming a ‘potential threat’ to Beijing