2003 Volume 2003 Issue 134 Pages 86-102,L13
The purpose of this paper is to examine Australian attitudes towards international relations of South East Asia in the late 1960s. In this period, the British government under Harold Wilson began reviewing its defence commitment East of Suez, having in mind a drastic reduction or complete withdrawal of British troops. With domestic pressure to keep defence expenditure down increasing and uncertainty over the tenure of bases in Singapore becoming looming, Britain was leaning in the direction of relinquishing its military hold over Singapore/Malaysia region, which had long been a symbol of the British Empire. Separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, in particular, brought policy makers in the UK home to the vulnerability of the British military positions under the fluctuating Asian political scene. The US commitment to the region was also experiencing drastic changes. Prospect of the Vietnam War obscured the future United States attitudes towards its commitments in South East Asia.
Since Britain expressed its intention to pull out its forces from Singapore/Malaysia, the concerned powers, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, and the United States held quadripartite talks on several occasions, which gave the Australians to express their views on the issue. Australia, on the brink of losing ‘security blanket’ the British had provided in the South East Asian region, had strong concerns about the developments in the British thinking about their defence role in the region. Contending that Britain had and would play an important role in the security of the region, and that any British decision to withdraw would have a destabilising effect in the region, Australia argued that Britain should stay as long as possible. Moreover, Australians feared that the British withdrawal would precipitate American disengagement from the region.
On the other hand, Australia sought to keep its options flexible and open as to its commitment in the region as long as possible. Although the Australians fully understood that the long-term security of Australia rested in the stability of the areas South East Asia, in the circumstances filled with unknown factors, Australia was not able to make a move forward.
In this paper, a particular attention would be paid to the development of Australia's thinking as to its role in the security of the region for the 1970s. We would focus on the period between the British enunciation of its intention to review its defence posture in the region and the Australian government's announcement of its intention to maintain its forces beyond the British withdrawal.
