Satellite imaging has begun picking up the presence of Chinese naval assets in Pradang, Sumatra (I know diplos are private but you can’t really miss this). As we’re sure your governments are aware, a Chinese base that close to Australia’s territory is unacceptable both to our national security community and the general public. While the media has not yet caught wind of this development, when they do we will have no choice but to issue a strong response or risk losing all public support and undermining our strategic situation. However, having a vested interest in diplomatic outcomes given the recent tensions across Asia, we are willing to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal of Chinese naval presence. Given Indonesia’s previous positon and historical opposition to foreign military bases, we are surprised by the administrations sudden shift. We would like to remind Jakarta that this base is a major threat to our national defense and sends a clear message about where Indonesia stands. Failure to negotiate this will significantly tarnish our prosperous relations.