Australians should view a growing U.S. military presence as a "natural evolution" as the strategic alliance between the two countries comes to grips with rising tensions in the South China Sea, Royal Australian Air Force chief Leo Davies said.
"We've got a U.S. plane coming in pretty much every day" to operate routine exercises and missions in Australia, Davies told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. The nation provides an opportunity for the U.S. to conduct long-range exercises, which are proving difficult to conduct elsewhere in the world, he said.
Australia, which hosts U.S. Marines and military exercises in its remote northern regions, is seen as a partner in President Barack Obama's economic and military "rebalance" to Asia, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month echoing U.S. calls for China to refrain from militarizing reefs it has reclaimed in the South China Sea.