This is interesting:
Secret planning has begun for a new port facility just outside Darwin which could eventually help US Marines operate more readily in the Indo-Pacific.
Precise details remain tightly guarded but senior defence and federal government figures concede the proposal may risk angering China even though it's a commercial port, not a new military base.
Multiple officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have confirmed to the ABC the multi-use development would be in the Glyde Point area, roughly 40 kilometres north-east of Darwin's existing port.
That would be good. It allows projection of Marine power north to the South China Sea region, and can host forces coming from CENTCOM or American territory further east.
China can build small islands in the South China Sea. But can they hold them?
