Given the continuing controversy over people-smuggling, you would assume the Federal Government would do everything in its power to secure the north-west approaches to Australia, let alone for any future defence purposes. A second assumption might be that we would, therefore, be working very closely in naval matters with our ally and neighbour, East Timor. But it seems that things aren't quite going to plan in that relationship. East Timor is currently on a search for military allies and equipment, and it's not looking to Australia. Mark Davis recently travelled to East Timor to see whether Australian diplomacy was lagging in this very strategic corner of our region.
REPORTER: Mark Davis
Dili Airport, East Timor - Ministers and dignitaries assemble for the homecoming of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Gusmao has been on a world tour in search of military alliances and hardware. He's visited multiple countries - except, very pointedly, Australia. With his government becoming increasingly close to China, he certainly caught America's interest - and was reportedly in discussions with the US - about the provision of naval facilities on the south coast. It's now rumoured that he wants an air force as well, and that he's been to see the Brazilians about providing one.
REPORTER (Translation): Will Brazil be contributing to the development of the air force of East Timor?
XANANA GUSMAO, PRIME MINISTER, EAST TIMOR (Translation): We have to change our international priorities because the process is advancing.
His answer is cryptic. But what is clear is that he's becoming increasingly impatient with Australia's practise of providing military supervision but little cooperation on military facilities. It seems Gusmao wants more bang in the buck from military aid.
MARK DAVIS: Why do you have to go so far when Australia is next door? Have you asked the Australians for military infrastructure?
XANANA GUSMAO: Ahhh, I don't know if Australia... What we know is that they don't do.
And if Australia won't provide military infrastructure, it seems other powers are ready to step into the breach - with China at the front of the queue... Any drive through East Timor reveals the growing largess and influence of China. Chinese business is building the power system for East Timor - a huge contract which they won at tender - and good luck to them.
The Chinese Government has donated and built the presidential palace, and the massive new offices for the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is very generous of them but other developments might make Australian Defence strategists a little uneasy. The Chinese are building gratis, a military barracks on the outskirts of town for the East Timorese army, they're training Timorese officers in China, selling weaponry and vessels, and donating this new headquarters in downtown Dili - an impressive sight for President Jose Ramos-Horta, who has a fairly impressive building of his own.
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Going to make exchange for building - my building for this one.
MARK DAVIS: You prefer this one, do you?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: I think this one is more imposing so more fitting for the President.
The head quarters are nearing completion, and Ramos-Horta tours the facility with Chinese ambassador Foo Yoo Chung.
WORKER: The cost - US$10 million.
Undoubtedly Australia would welcome all aid to Timor, but the donation of military assets and the supply of military vessels and training may be another matter altogether.
REPORTER: You'd have been aware there would be some sensitivities about that - it's of quite a different nature. What was Australia's reaction as far as you could tell to that?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Well, first, let me say the two major patrol boats cost about $30 million. We paid for it, cash. Plus, the contract included training of our officers in China. Well, when you have the Australian military academy in Canberra offering two places a year on the academy when the Chinese take 30 in one go to train in our - to manage our two patrol boats - so we have to look after our interests.
FOO YOO CHUNG, CHINESE AMBASSADOR (Translation): We have friendly collaborations with East Timor in all aspects, there are some military exchanges – mainly in personnel training – there are some military officers currently studying in China.
At the government offices that same day, another deal is being signed with the Chinese. Defence Secretary Julio Pinto signs off on a free security wall and earthworks around a military compound down the coast.
MARK DAVIS: What do you think China's interest is?
JULIO PINTO, CHINESE DEFENCE SECRETARY: I think - I don't understand about the training. What we want to explain is we tried to professionalise our military with other country.
Pinto is off to inspect another complementary Chinese project - a military barracks down near the naval port at Hera and he describes the fairly simple process his Defence Department goes through when requiring assistance.
MARK DAVIS: How does that happen? If you want a new military headquarters, how do you do that sort of deal? What goes on in those negotiations?
JULIO PINTO: No negotiation - we send letter and they send a technical team to come discuss with us, to provide us design.
MARK DAVIS: That's it?
JULIO PINTO: We meet around three or four months later.
MARK DAVIS: So when you're in China, are you discussing negotiations? Is there anything –
JULIO PINTO: No, I meet with minister of Defence in China, and we discuss about the defence in terms of assisting Timor-Leste, and they say, "If you need something, you ask for China's help. We're ready to help you."
Clearly, the Chinese are courting the East Timorese military but it seems the mood is relaxed inCanberra and at the Australian Embassy in Dili.
MILES ARMITAGE, AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR TO EAST TIMOR: Of course I think it's only natural that Timor Leste develops a good and substantive relationship with China.
Miles Armitage is the new ambassador to East Timor, and has largely inherited a landscape and seascape increasingly dominated by the Chinese.
REPORTER: Nation-building aside, on pure military issues, clearly the Timorese are looking elsewhere than Australia. Now, has Australia done well enough in ensuring that we're making the good-enough offers or exerting our financial muscle? Or are we comfortable with East Timorseeking other partners?
MILES ARMITAGE: We are comfortable with East Timor seeking other partners.
MARK DAVIS: Should we be?
MILES ARMITAGE: Yes, we should be.
At the small naval base at Hera, east of Dili, Australian-trained Special Forces go through their paces. But since independence, it's been clear that the Timorese wanted more than rubber-duckies for their navy to get around in.
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Both Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United States and UK, are ganging up together – and did not agree in developing maritime security.
MARK DAVIS: Who did they think would look after your security?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Exactly.
Whatever Australia's wishes may have been, Timor now has its patrol boats. Captain Donacella Gomez is the commander of the fleet.
CAPTAIN DONACELLA GOMEZ: This is proud for me, for the country, and for all of the Timorese that to see Timor-Leste rise as an independent, sovereign country with their flag, under Timor-Leste jurisdiction.
The Shanghai-class vessels were delivered last July. 36 Timorese personnel have been undertaking naval training in China, and a Chinese team sent to supervise onboard in East Timor.
CAPTAIN DONACELLA GOMEZ: No more foreign trainers onboard. Now we operate the two patrol boats by ourselves.
Five Chinese advisors are still based at the dock, but are soon to leave.
MILES ARMITAGE: I don't think it's up to Australia to express a view on the commercial decision made by a sovereign country.
A commercial decision with pointy ends on it, as second officer Raul Correa explains.
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: The armament onboard - actually we have 14.5mm machine gun, and 50mm cannon, and we do have AK-47 - 10 onboard.
MARK DAVIS: That's pretty serious, huh?
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: Yes. It's actually Chinese weapon, this boat - we get it from China, so the weapon is Chinese weaponry.
MARK DAVIS: If you need spare parts for this boat or for the weapons, where do you have to get them? China?
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: Well, as far as I know, we still get it from China, as the boat is designed in China.
It seems ridiculous that there is such a disconnect between allied neighbours sharing a seaboard border.. Particularly as Australia claims it did finally offer assistance under the Pacific Patrol Boat Program.
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: I personally prefer much closer maritime cooperation with Australia andIndonesia.
MARK DAVIS: 'Cause we're neighbours, right? We're sharing the same sea.
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Yes. Yes.
MARK DAVIS: But it seems to me that some big mistake has been made. Clearly it's in Australia's interest to have an intergrated maritime defence - I assume it's in East Timor's interest. What went wrong?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Well, I think taking too long in Australia to appreciate the needs of Timor-Leste for having a credible maritime security.
MARK DAVIS: Has East Timor, specifically, asked Australia for hardware assistance, for boats to integrate with the Australian Navy?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: No. What Australia did offer - and we didn't accept it - was the Pacific program. Because we didn't think it was suitable for our waters and that was what Australia had available.
MARK DAVIS: They were offering them for free, pretty much.
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Yes. But not suitable.
It seems that more than the boats being unsuitable, it was the nature of the Australian offer that caused East Timor to look elsewhere. The boats were to have Australian captains and senior crew, communications were to be directed through Australia, and the vessels were to be unarmed.
MARK DAVIS: Isn't it in our interests - isn't this one place where we can serve East Timor ease interests and Australia's interest, to insure that it is Australian and East Timorese in that region?
MILES ARMITAGE: I'm trying to suggest to you, Mark, that we actually have a greater level of involvement and cooperation, including with the naval component, than you're acknowledging. And part of that is working with other foreign partners - China, Portugal, the US and Japan.
Australia has recently sent two permanent maritime advisors to - presumably, complement the Chinese ones, and other offers are being discussed.
MARK DAVIS: Did you get Australia's attention by buying those Chinese boats? Did they sit up and pay a bit more attention after this?
PRESIDENT JOSE RAMOS-HORTA: Well, it looks like at least by coincidence, only when we purchase the Chinese boats that we have seen more offers of support for our maritime capabilities from Australia, from the US, and now we have better military cooperation with all of these countries.
It may be a further coincidence that US and Australian forces - or the ISF, as they're known here - are planning naval exercises in the seas around East Timor next month. It seems this little navy may be creating a lot of interest from some big nations - hopefully with Australia amongst them.
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: Well, according to the plane, we are going to plan - we are going to have training with Timor-Leste marines and ISF.
MARK DAVIS: Naval training? They're bringing ships over obviously for this one?
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: According to the program, the US marine and ISF are in country, so we are going to have close-quarter training.
MARK DAVIS: No Chinese navy?
OFFICER RAUL CORREA: No Chinese navy.
MARK DAVIS: Aww. Why not? I thought we were all friends!
MARK DAVIS: You can go online for a behind-the-scenes look at how that story was put together.
Reporter/Camera
MARK DAVIS
Producer
ASHLEY SMITH
Local Producer/Camera
JOSE BELO
Editors
WAYNE LOVE
MICAH MCGOWN
Translation/Subtitling
GIOVANA VITOLA
JING HAN
Original Music composed by
VICKI HANSEN
27th March 2011