The stark truth is that “stabilisation” is a hope and a prayer. The missiles are a back-up in case hopes and prayers are ineffective.
Another way of putting it is to use an old definition of diplomacy,: “Diplomacy is saying ‘nice doggie’ while you reach for a rock.” Or, in the two-part formula preferred by Penny Wong, Australia is deploying both reassurance and deterrence.
But Australia alone can’t deter aggression by the Chinese Communist Party. As Wong posed on the ABC’son Sunday: “How do we achieve and ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous region in which sovereignty is respected? What we have to do with other countries is to ensure that there is a strategic balance in the region. We want to make sure that no country ever thinks that conflict is worth it.
“This is clear from the Chinese official record. Xi says he wants to change the region and the world and we should take him at his word.” Xi represented, said Rudd, a “new authoritarianism”. The People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force have not fired shots but increasingly cross into other nations’ airspace and sea space to use “grey zone” tactics of intrusion, intimidation and blocking against their forces.
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