Australia Versus China is taken from an article, published in the November 30 edition of the Economist. It is poignant, indicative, frightening and reflects a real threat to the rest of the world. Please take it to heart.
“It is the oldest move in the Communist Party’s playbook: to lock a country in the dog house when it has offended the cosmic order. Yet even by China’s standards, the 14 grievances presented to the government of Australia this month, are striking in scope and animosity.”
“The charges include speaking out against Chinese activities in the South China Sea, Xinjiang and Hong Kong; excluding Huawei from 5G telecoms networks; calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19; passing a law against foreign interference in politics; pressing the state of Victoria to end its involvement in President Xi Jinping’s flagship infrastructure initiative; blaming cyber-attacks on China; and accusing Chinese journalists of being state agents. China also griped about Australia’s hostile media and think-tanks. Make China the enemy, a Chinese official told an Australian broadcaster, and “China will be the enemy.”
The threat could not be more direct or obvious.
“The hypocrisy is breath-taking”, says the article. It also quotes an Australian official who said recently, “as American power ebbs, and Chinese power is in flood, Australians have no conception of how to make their way”.
I submit that “as Australia goes, so the world will follow”, if we don’t wake up to the real threat, and stop treating the Chinese leadership like a reasonable and somewhat benign threat.
Hopefully, under Biden, the catastrophic policy of the current Trump administration policy, abrogating its global responsibilities, will change. It needs to be done quickly and decisively, before it is too late.
I have warned in previous blogs that China, and Russia, will use the chaos of the U.S. political transfer of power to pursue their goals more vigorously. The only power they fear isn’t paying attention.
Their gains may appear to be modest, and irrelevant to the “America First” crowd, but they are insidious, and indicative of motive and intent. They won’t stop, unless we frighten them into inaction. Even then, they will only stop, regroup, and continue. They have the time, politically. The West does not. It is subject to elections.
As I have said before, ordering a U.S. Carrier Task Force into the Straits of Taiwan on an official, friendly, visit to the Island, would be a good start. It would say “Just go ahead and try it” to Beijing, and would show our allies comprehensive support and commitment for the first time in four years. Australia versus China should be taken as a warning for the rest of the world.
