"At the annual Australia-US Ministerial meeting (AUSMIN) 2019, US Secretary of Defence, Mike Esper and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, presented a proposal to use Australia as part of the US’ Asia-Pacific regional defence network against Chinese expansionism. Mike Esper stated that ‘the US would like to place either long-range or cruise missiles’ in Australia. Despite ruling out this notion, Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, did not completely preclude the deployment of US military hardware, adding, ’The presence of the US and its military forces in this region has been a force for stability for decades, and Australia has consistently welcomed that force and presence.’ Although China remains Australia’s biggest trading partner, the South China Sea issue, along with Beijing’s push for aggressive economic development and acquisition of strategic maritime assets in Southeast Asian countries, have raised concerns about its intentions. Furthermore, the Darwin port acquisition by Chinese SOE, Landbridge Group, back in 2015, fuelled further concerns for the security of both Australian and US naval assets. The US request to use Australian territory as part of its defence network is a response to Beijing’s use of economic development as a weapon to undermine US influence in both South-East Asia (SEA) and the Pacific. In recent years, China has increased its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific Island states by using foreign direct investment (FDI) as a means of winning favours from their governments. Building opulent Chinese-owned casinos in the Northern Marianas is an example of this strategy. China favours the use of casinos to attract Chinese tourists to the islands as a means of boosting the domestic economy. In practice, this often backfires on the island economy and, instead, damages local businesses, which increases dependence on Beijing..."