Below is the text from a Fairfax article from August 2004 outlining Foreign Minister Downer's position that an attack by China on Taiwan, which appears to compel US intervention, but does not in the view of the Australian government of the day trigger Australian obligations under the ANZUS treaty.
"Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has denied sending the wrong message to China by saying Australia was not bound to help the United States defend Taiwan in any future military action. Mr Downer said in Beijing on Tuesday that the ANZUS treaty was "symbolic" and invoked only if Australia or the US were attacked. His remarks were widely interpreted as a significant strategic policy shift towards China. But, speaking in Hong Kong yesterday, Mr Downer said he did not know how different countries would react if China and Taiwan were at war. "We are not getting into a discussion about what Australia will do in the event of there being some catastrophic breakdown in security in North Asia, which is what would happen if there were to be a war between China and Taiwan," Mr Downer said."It's a . . . useless debate to get into, speculating on what countries would do in a circumstance which is entirely hypothetical." Under the US-Taiwan Relations Act, the US is obliged to defend Taiwan against attack. Mr Downer said the ANZUS treaty was invoked only if Australia or the US were attacked, not in the case of "some other military activity somewhere in the world".But Article IV of the treaty commits each party to act to meet the common danger from an armed attack in the Pacific area, deemed under Article V to include an armed attack on troops, ships or aircraft. The US Ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer, declined to comment but strategic expert Aldo Borgu said Australia would be obliged to come to the aid of US troops defending Taiwan if they were attacked by China."It's not the right message to be giving China in Beijing after talks with Chinese officials," Mr Borgu, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said."It would be more appropriate to be giving that message to the Americans behind closed doors." Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said Mr Downer was becoming a foreign policy liability."We cannot afford a foreign minister who blunders into such a diplomatic minefield and lets drop a new Australian strategic doctrine on the run."Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Kau said he had faith in Australia's commitment to ANZUS, but feared the comments may have sent the wrong message. "It may not be helpful because China has taken a very militant position on the Taiwan issue," he told ABC's Lateline."We hope this is not a major change in the policy," Dr Kau said. "We expect the commitment to the ANZUS treaty would remain firm and predictable."- AAP
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