OPINION: Australia’s overarching strategic goal should be to encourage Beijing to pull back behind the rules of the global system and prevent strategic competition with the US from escalating into a potentially disastrous war over Taiwan.
warning that China reserves the right to use military force to achieve reunification with Taiwan underscores the unprecedented strategic challenge Australia faces.
The 1957 commerce agreement with once-bitter wartime enemy Japan was the start of Australia’s mineral exports of coal, gas, and iron ore fuelling the industrialisation of East Asia’s “miracle” tiger economies. The reality is that there is no easy way back to a benign and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship.
Australia’s response is to lead the regional pushback against Mr Xi’s “man of destiny” quest to transform China into Asia’s hegemon, through both the formation of the Quad regional grouping with the US, Japan, and India and the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement with the US and UK. Beijing’s response to Australia’s efforts to uphold a rules-based, free and open Indo-Pacific is the “tremble and obey” trade sanctions targeting its barley, beef, wool and wine exports.
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