OPINION:
“Australian ambassador derails U.S. plan for Pacific police initiative” by Bill Gertz (web, Sept. 6) contains claims that simply do not stand up to scrutiny.
The suggestion by unnamed “critics” that I have ever sought to avoid offending Beijing is entirely inconsistent with views I’ve expressed my entire working life, both in books I’ve written and in speeches I’ve delivered. In fact, just last week at National Defense University in Washington, I delivered a talk on deterring China. It was my third major speech this year on the topic.
Mr. Gertz’s fiction also fundamentally contradicts the facts concerning the content and timing of recent Australian and U.S. policing initiatives that our respective governments have announced in partnership with our friends in the Pacific islands and the Pacific Blue Forum itself.
As for discussions with the Biden administration, as Australia’s ambassador to the U.S., I regularly engage with the American government on Australia’s foreign policy priorities in the region. Australia welcomes continued and expanding commitment by the U.S. to the Pacific island countries, and that includes policing.
KEVIN RUDD
Australian ambassador to the United States
Washington
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