Remote Australian islands near an Indian Ocean chokepoint are among the possible locations for United States military construction to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The Cocos Islands are listed along with Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Timor-Leste for potential construction projects under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, designed to enhance U.S. force posture and infrastructure to counter the PRC.
The Cocos Islands, with a population of about 600, are 3,000 kilometers west of the Australian mainland and described by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as key to its surveillance operations in the Indian Ocean, where the PRC is increasing submarine activity.
The U.S. Navy in June 2024 specified locations for possible infrastructure, including the Cocos Islands.
The islands are about 2,000 kilometers from the Malacca Strait, a chokepoint for much of the world’s maritime trade, including half of the PRC’s oil shipments. They are nearer the strait than is the U.S. Navy base at Diego Garcia, an island in the central Indian Ocean.
Darshana Baruah, director of security and geopolitics for the Australia India Institute, told a U.S. Congressional hearing in 2023 that the Cocos Islands would be “critical geography” for the U.S. to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the self-governed island that the PRC claims as its territory and threatens to annex by force.
“The strategic location of Cocos Islands, close to both the Strait of Malacca as well as Australia’s northern approaches, gives it immense geostrategic advantages,” she told Reuters.
Australia has said it will begin expanding an airfield on the islands in 2024 to carry heavier military aircraft, including the submarine-hunting P-8A Poseidon.
“There is currently no U.S. investment at Cocos Island,” an ADF spokesman said. “Australia and the U.S. cooperate closely together to advance our force posture cooperation across various locations in Australia.”
