ANZUS at 60

On 1 Sept 1951 the ANZUS Treaty entered into force creating a trilateral agreement for the defense of the southwest Pacific region.  The big scare was the movement of China and or Russia into the region if the Korean Conflict turned into a disaster for the U.S. led UN forces.  All thinking aside, Korea did not turn out happily for the U.S. or UN forces, but did not turn into a disaster.  However, 60 years later concerns are growing again about China and the desire of Beijing to control the economic and political interactions of the South China Sea region and beyond. 

The U.S. and New Zealand had a treaty falling out in the mid 1980s because the U.S. refused to acknowledge whether or not U.S. warships were carrying nuclear weapons when entering New Zealand territorial waters.  Of course the U.S. warships were carrying nuclear weapons.  But, New Zealand is a nuclear weapon free zone--as if that would stop potential enemies (does NZ have any potential enemies?) from using nuclear weapons.  The ANZUS Treaty does remain in effect separately between the U.S. and Australia and between Australia and New Zealand. 

Last week Defense Secretary Panetta and Sec. of State Clinton met with their Australian counterparts to celebrate the treaty and discuss new implementations designed to be prepared for dealing with the potential of a Chinese threat (read a little about it here).  The new plan calls for forward location of equipment and frequent joint training, but not for new bases.  This plan is probably for the best considering issues with forward bases in South Korea and Japan.