Australian media has revealed that in April last year, then Australian Special Forces commander Major General Findlay said in a classified briefing that the Chinese Communist Party had launched a series of grey-area “political operations” against Australia that were likely to turn into armed conflict.
“The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s The Age both reported today, citing multiple anonymous sources, that Adam Findlay gave a confidential briefing to special forces last year on the views of Australia’s most senior military staff on the Chinese Communist threat, most of which have not been made public.
The report mentioned that more than 20 highly trained special forces officers and soldiers were present at Findlay’s classified briefing.
According to the report, Findlay, then commander of the Australian Special Forces, stated in the briefing that the Australian military wanted to prevent a war from breaking out, but at the same time noted that foreign situations were unpredictable and that there was a high probability of conflict.
Findlay noted that the Chinese Communist Party is the main source of threat; he cautioned that the Australian military needs to strengthen its deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.
He stressed that the Chinese Communist Party has 26,000 special forces personnel and that in the event of a military conflict, Australia would need to have cyber and space capabilities in addition to the traditional land, sea and air forces.
Findlay pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party, ostensibly in the name of cooperation, is actually targeting Australia in a “grey zone” (grey zone) approach to combat.
Findlay explained that the CCP would avoid military confrontation and instead adopt “political warfare” in order to “achieve strategic results without armed conflict.
They [the Communists] know that Western democracies are peaceful, but if they step out of line, we get angry and we bomb them,” Findlay said.
Findlay mentioned that political warfare includes trade tactics, intelligence, foreign power intervention, diplomacy and cyber armies.
He also mentioned that this is the first time since World War II that Australia has faced a “peer enemy” from the Chinese Communist Party.
As tensions between Australia and China grow, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton told the media on April 25 that he “should not underestimate” the possibility of a military conflict between China and the Communist Party over Taiwan.
He also said that with the growing military threat from the Chinese Communist Party, the Australian military should shift its focus to neighboring regions. On the same day, Australian Home Affairs Secretary General Michael Pezzullo also issued a statement stressing that the “drums of war” have been sounded and that Australia and its freedom-loving allies must prepare to fight for freedom.
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