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Former Australian ambassador to U.S. warns of Donald Trump presidency

Xinhua, April 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australia's former ambassador to the United States has said the nation's recently released defence strategy paper would need to be re-written to reflect more on self-reliance should U.S. republican front-runner Donald Trump be elected the next U.S. president.

Former ambassador to the U.S. Kim Beazley who finished his post in Washington in December 2015, wrote in an opinion editorial that should Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency, Australia could no longer rely on the U.S. forward policy, local media reported early on Friday.

Donald Trump, though he hasn't yet secured the U.S. republican nomination for president, is the likely candidate to contest the November U.S president election against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

"If Trump happens, the (Defence White Paper) 2016 will need a rewrite early next year and the strategic sectors will look very different," Beazley said.

"We would still be deeply embedded in what might be seen as the American deep state -- the intelligence community, the military and the arms industry.

"However, a lot more intellectual muscle would need to be put on the priority attached to defending our approaches."

Beazley added the U.S. Asian pivot would also become instantly complicated given Trump's "long-standing hostility to features of American relations with Asia".

"The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would be killed immediately; the Chinese relationship would go from competitive to adversarial," Beazley said. Endit