By MARTIN PARRY
SYDNEY — The first batch of 2,500 US Marines to be deployed in Australia began work April 4 as Washington bolsters its presence in the strategically vital Asia-Pacific, to the irritation of China.
Some 200 Marines touched down in tropical Darwin overnight as part of an enhanced defense cooperation outlined during a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama in November that rankled Beijing.
The troops are in the Northern Territory on a six-month rotational basis and will be based at Robertson Barracks on the outskirts of the city, building to some 2,500 by 2016-17.
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