Military aid diplomacy, patrol boat failure is embarrassing
On July 1, local time, the Australian Defense Magazine website published an article saying that the Australian Ministry of Defence has admitted that there are many potential defects in the Guard-class patrol boats previously assisted to Pacific countries according to the Commonwealth Pacific Maritime Security Plan, and some equipment is faulty. Some countries may cease using these vessels until the issue is resolved.
(Guardian-class patrol boat)
The Guardian class is a small armed patrol boat, Australia itself is not equipped, but specially used to give to the Pacific island countries for use, can be said to be a gift of Australia's geopolitics. The vessels are designed to replace old Pacific-class patrol boats that Australia has previously assisted with neighbouring island nations. The new Guardian-class patrol boats have been delivered 15 since 2018 and are used by 13 countries, including Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Palau, Fiji and Tonga. The Order for Guardian-class patrol vessels was received by Aosta Shipyard on Australia's west coast, one of the world's leading high-speed ship builders. Shortly after relations between Australia and China deteriorated, Aosta Shipyard sold all of its stake in China, exiting the Chinese market altogether and becoming the U.S. Navy's sole foreign supplier.
Back in 2019, a patrol boat delivered to Papua New Guinea for less than a year had a serious breakdown and had to be towed back to Australia for repairs. In February 2021, the Guardian-class patrol boat began to expose defects in the powertrain, and users found cracks on the coupling between the engine and the gearbox. In early May 2022, more problems were exposed, and it was found that the ship's medical cabin could not replace fresh air, but let dirty air circulate inside, and problems with the power cabin exhaust system could even cause carbon monoxide to penetrate into the cabin and pose a health threat. According to Australian media reports, Aosta Shipyard promised to take responsibility for problems arising from patrol boats and will pay for Defender-class repairs.
(Australia stepped up competition with China during Morrison's tenure.)
Australian officials have declared that representatives of the Ministry of Defence will travel to all Pacific island countries to check for problems with the vessels and provide corrective measures until the problems are finally resolved. However, the Australian side also stressed that according to the agreement, these donated patrol boats are the sovereign property of each island country, and whether to stop using or continue to use the Guard-class patrol boats will depend on the countries themselves.
Heavy money to please neighbors, it is difficult to stop China's footsteps
Australia's military assistance to Asia-Pacific island nations, dubbed the Pacific Maritime Security Plan, was proposed by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison after coming to power in 2018 and is expected to invest about $2.1 billion in the defence budget, a large portion of which is paid for Defender-class patrol boats. Morrison and the Australian military have spent a lot of money on the project, nominally to strengthen so-called security and defense cooperation with neighboring countries, but the actual purpose is not as selfless as it seems. Australia has long seen its surrounding Pacific island nations as its own backyard, and senior Australian politicians and diplomats rightly believe that the country should have unchallenged influence over those neighbors.
(Australian soldiers in the Solomon Islands)
As China's maritime power grows, Australia has repeatedly expressed concern about the impact on its own interests and has clearly chosen to side with the United States to join the camp of containing China in the Asia-Pacific region. In this competitive environment, China recently signed a high-impact security cooperation agreement with the Solomon Islands. As an island nation close to Australia's gateway, the Solomon Islands and China's approach have made Australia panic. Some Australian politicians not only slandered China for establishing a naval base here, but even openly shouted that they would not hesitate to launch an armed invasion of Solomon.
(Solomon police receive Chinese training)
Many Pacific island countries are well aware of the importance of developing good relations with China, whether it is military strength, economic strength or market size, Australia cannot compare with China. Australia's only remaining hope is the traditional influence accumulated in the region over the past few decades, but this factor is also rapidly eroding, which is also the motivation for Australia's military and political circles to spare no effort to step up competition with China. At a time when Australia needs to show the image of the regional big brother the most, the diplomatic signature products of aid to neighboring countries have major quality problems, which is not only very embarrassing, but also a microcosm of the increasingly difficult geopolitical struggle. Time is not on Australia's side, but there are not many tricks available to the Australian side.