Australia’s defence force operations to protect its sea trade routes, including through the South China Sea, are becoming more risky as Beijing undertakes the “biggest military build-up in the world today”, Australia’s defence minister said.

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Open sea lanes, including trade routes that go through the South China Sea and East China Sea, are at the core of Australia’s national interest, Richard Marles said in an opening speech at a navy conference in Sydney.

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Australia’s defence force operations to protect its sea trade routes, including through the South China Sea, are becoming more risky as Beijing undertakes the “biggest military build-up in the world today”, Australia’s defence minister said on Tuesday.

Open sea lanes, including trade routes that go through the South China Sea and East China Sea, are at the core of Australia’s national interest, Richard Marles said in an opening speech at a navy conference in Sydney.

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This included acquiring frigates from Japan, developing submarine drones with U.S. company Anduril, and expanding its naval shipyards facing the Indian Ocean.

Australia raised concerns with Beijing last month after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near an Australian maritime patrol plane carrying out surveillance in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of such incidents that Australia has labelled “unsafe and unprofessional”.

Dozens of navy and coast guard chiefs, including from the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Pacific Islands, are attending the conference in Sydney, which comes as Australia prepares to build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet with the U.S. and Britain through the AUKUS partnership.