Joint military drill will help build trust

The ongoing joint military exercise in northern Australia is the first in which China, the United States and Australia are taking part. Though only 25 soldiers are participating in the drill - 10 from Australia, 10 from China and five from the US - its significance goes beyond the symbolic.

The exercise, code-named "KOWARI 14", started on Oct 7 and will continue until Oct 25. Australian Defense Minister David Johnston has said that it will provide some extremely challenging situations for the participants in some of the toughest terrains that Australia has to offer. "The exercise demonstrates the willingness of Australia, China and the United States to work together in practical ways," Johnson was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

With China's military exchanges with the US and Australia being strengthened, it is expected that they will expand cooperation in the security field. Any effort made in this regard by the three countries' militaries will help deepen strategic mutual trust and boost regional peace and stability.

The idea of the joint exercise, first proposed in 2011, was formally announced when Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, visited Australia in July. The subject of the exercise - surviving in harsh natural conditions - may not sound so impressive, but it offers soldiers from the three sides the chance to build friendship in times of difficulty.

The military drill has also put the China-US-Australia trilateral relationship in the global spotlight. As a close ally of the US in the Asia Pacific region, Australia has strengthened its military alliance with the US in recent years, especially after the Barack Obama administration announced its "pivot to Asia" policy. Since the policy is widely perceived as a move to contain China's rise in the region, Canberra's efforts to further strengthen its alliance with Washington is seen by many as catering to US wishes.

In August, Canberra and Washington signed a 25-year bilateral military pact, which allowed the US to increase the number of Marines in Darwin to 2,500 by 2017. In November, following in the footsteps of the US and Japan, Australia reacted strongly to China demarcating the Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea. The consequent skirmish became the first diplomatic row between Beijing and Canberra since Tony Abbott assumed the prime minister's office in September.

All this shows Australia is drawing closer to the US strategically, which may not be good for China-Australia relations, as some insightful people in both countries have said. For five consecutive years, China has remained Australia's largest trading partner, its largest market for exports, its largest source of imports and its largest contributor to trade surplus.

Therefore, it is in both countries' interests to continue building on the current good momentum in bilateral ties. To this end, Canberra should keep the impact of its military alliance with Washington on its relations with Beijing to the minimum. Building strategic mutual trust could be an effective way to dispel doubts and avoid misjudgments between the two sides.

In this context, the trilateral military exercise could be a good starting point for China and Australia, along with the US, to move in the right direction.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. wanghui@chinadaily.com.cn