By STEFANIE BALOGH
THE deployment of 2500 US marines in Australia, which begins this week, was aimed at putting the US's "chess pieces in the right places" and not in response to the growth of China, the US ambassador to Canberra, Jeffrey Bleich, said yesterday.
Mr Bleich told Sky News's Australian Agenda that heightened military co-operation between Australia and the US was important because it showed the alliance was continuing to evolve, particularly as the Asia-Pacific region became more significant.
But reports that the expanded US military footprint would eventually involve basing manned and unmanned spyplanes in the Cocos Islands -- about 2750km northwest of Perth -- to carry out patrols over the northern oceans was a matter for Australia, he said.
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