US Republican Michael McCaul: stand up to China by lifting defence spend

US Republican Michael McCaul says Australia would send Xi Jinping and China a powerful message if it increased defence spending.

Australia's US ambassador Kevin Rudd meets House Foreign Affairs Committee co-chairman Michael McCaul.

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Increased Australian defence spending would send a “strong message” to Xi Jinping and show Beijing there were consequences for its ongoing belligerence, the new Republican co-chair of the US Friends of Australia Caucus says.

Michael McCaul, the chairman emeritus of the House foreign ­affairs committee, told The Australian that stronger deterrence in the region could be a key factor in preventing the outbreak of World War III.

He said the AUKUS partnership would help to provide greater deterrence, warning that tensions in the Indo-Pacific were reaching “breaking point”.

Mr McCaul made the comments just days after a speech by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in which he spoke about the need to re-establish deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.

Mr Hegseth used the speech to indicate the US would be willing to defend Taiwan if necessary. He said that, if deterrence failed, America was “prepared to do what the Department of Defence does best: fight and win – decisively”.

A Pentagon briefing also revealed that Mr Hegseth had urged Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles – in their meeting on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue – to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP “as soon as possible”.

Anthony Albanese, who will soon meet with Donald Trump at the G7 in Canada, has come under growing pressure to commit to lift defence spending given it is forecast to rise to only 2.33 per cent of GDP by 2033-34.

The United States Studies Centre’s head of foreign policy and ­defence, Peter Dean, who co-authored the Albanese government’s defence strategic review, said an increase of at least 3 per cent of GDP was what was currently ­“realistic” for Australia.

On Mr Hegseth’s call for ­greater defence spending, Mr McCaul said that Mr Xi would “continue his aggression in the Indo-Pacific and beyond until it’s clear the cost is too great”.

“Raising Australia’s defence spending would send a strong message that there will be consequences for the CCP’s continued belligerence in the region,” he said. “The world is on fire, with our ­adversaries growing more aggressive each day – and none is more formidable than the Chinese Communist Party.

“With tensions in the Indo-­Pacific nearing a breaking point, deterrence in the region could prove key to preventing a World War III scenario. AUKUS provides that deterrence through ­nuclear submarines – the crown jewel of the sea – and advanced technologies that are shaping the future of warfare.”

Mr McCaul said that, as the new Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus co-chair, he was “committed to deepening our ­nations’ enduring partnership, which serves as a powerful force for global security and peace”.

A Republican representing Texas’ tenth congressional district, Mr McCaul announced that he would be serving as the co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus in May. At the time he declared that “trusted ­allies like Australia are as critical as ever”.

His latest comments came soon after Beijing had denounced Mr Marles for spreading the “China threat” while inviting Trade Minister Don Farrell to visit Shanghai in November.

Late on Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the US, Japan, Australia and The Philippines after the four allies met on the sidelines of the security conference in Singapore and discussed shared concerns about Beijing’s use of force and coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

“The US, together with Japan, Australia, and The Philippines, brazenly spread the false ­accusation of (the) ‘China threat’ at the Shangri-La Dialogue and sought to use the East China Sea issue and the South China Sea issue to sow discord and incite confrontation between regional countries. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it, and has made serious protests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference in Beijing.

“Bloc politics and confrontation will not solve any problem, still less intimidate China. We will not flinch in defending China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

Hours later, in Paris, Senator Farrell was feted by his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who urged Canberra to “jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system” with Beijing.

Senator Farrell accepted an ­invitation from the Chinese ­Commerce Minister to attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November, ­according to a Chinese government readout of the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the OECD.

It will be the third consecutive year the Australian Trade ­Minister has attended the trade show, the most politically important in China.

This year’s trade show will be the first Senator Farrell will attend since Beijing ended all of the trade restrictions it had previously ­imposed on Australia.

In a dramatic reversal after their four years in China’s crosshairs, Australian farmers are benefiting at the expense of their American counterparts, who have been targeted by Beijing during its trade tussle with the Trump ­administration.

Senator Farrell has explicitly distanced the Albanese government from the agenda of the Trump administration, which has tried to pressure allies and partners to reduce their economic relations with China.