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发帖数: 4825 | 1 https://www.rt.com/op-ed/489787-australia-us-china-relations/
Australia is US’ most loyal military ally, but when it trades with China,
Trump BULLIES it like anyone else
Darius Shahtahmasebi
is a New Zealand-based legal and political analyst who focuses on US foreign
policy in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region. He is fully qualified
as a lawyer in two international jurisdictions.
26 May, 2020
Despite years of supporting the US in major war efforts, Australia is being
treated with contempt by the Americans, who want to dictate who the country
does business with.
While there appears to be this unfaltering assumption that America’s
greatest ally whom must be protected at all costs can be found in the Middle
East, most Americans seem oblivious to the fact that Washington’s most
diehard backer since World War II is more likely to be found in Canberra.
In fact, Australia has contributed to every major US war effort including
Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf and even Iraq. Note how many of these conflicts
became absolute PR nightmares and resulted in little but wanton destruction.
Other notably close allies such as Israel did not support or partake in the
destruction of Iraq.
Imagine supporting and assisting a close ally through some of its dirtiest,
darkest secrets, and then having to deal with the inability of Donald Trump
’s administration to entertain diplomacy on any sort of level. The current
go-to mantra of the US president and his cohorts appears to be as simple as
yelling ‘it’s our way – or the highway’ at everyone on the world stage
and expecting a fearful reaction.
This was seen again in US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent warning
to Australia that the US would “simply disconnect” and “simply separate”
from Australia if the state of Victoria proceeds with its Belt and Road
agreement with Beijing. I wish someone could issue a similar warning to the
US the next time it decides to extrajudicially assassinate prominent
political figures.
Washington’s insistence that countries bow to the will of the Trump
administration puts almost every nation in an increasingly unrealistic
universe; one in which it could never please the United States even if it
tried.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner. At the end of the day, this
fact alone will dictate the overall relationship between the two parties. As
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said in response to questions over Pompeo
’s remarks: “It doesn’t mean we agree on everything. There are many
things we don’t agree on. But what I think all of us here, and indeed, both
parts of our partnership, both Victoria, Australia and China, surely we all
have to concede, we all have to recognize, that a good strong partnership
is in everybody’s interests.”
US’ harsh stance
Having been following this particular topic for years, I can’t help but
feel Washington’s stance is egregiously harsh in the circumstances.
Australia is one of the few countries that joined in the berating of China
over the Covid-19 pandemic from the outset. When Australia called for an
inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, it swiftly dug itself a
compromised hole which quickly escalated into Beijing slapping an 80 percent
tariff on Australia’s barley exports, blocking beef imports from four of
its abattoirs and restricting imports of Australian coal.
Further, while echoing the US State Department on a regular basis, Canberra
has often accused China of “foreign interference,” building “roads to
nowhere in the Pacific,” and has engaged in competing with China for
control over the Pacific region, and even sent warships to the South China
Sea.
It’s not as if Australia hasn’t given China a good run for its money –
those naval ships are not there to sightsee. Yet the US, as is often the
case, is ready to turn a blind eye to years of unfettering loyalty if it
even sniffs that some sort of meaningful progress with China is being
developed in the background.
China, for its part, is set to increase its defense spending by 6.6 percent.
Some experts think the actual spending is higher than it would appear, as
some items are not even included in the official defense budget.
Unsurprisingly, there is a heavy focus on the navy; as we have seen even
during the pandemic, Chinese and American warships and fighter jets are
continuing to confront each other in the South China Sea.
America’s warning to Australia
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Australia also received a stern
message from China to “distance” itself from the US amid the rising
tensions between the two nations. As has become clear, these two countries
have the means and mechanisms of having a dramatic effect on the Australian
economy and/or its international security, leaving it in somewhat of a
delicate situation.
But then again, Australia may have other cards up its sleeve. The recently
announced Trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand is
now likely to be extended to allow in their smaller Pacific neighbors,
helping to jumpstart a woeful economic situation. Given that some of the
smaller Pacific states have done a tremendous job of preventing the Covid-19
pandemic from decimating their shores, this could very well become a
reality.
However, the real reason behind Australia’s willingness to proceed down
this path may be so that it can generate a means to counter China’s rising
stature in the region. For example, if a country has a strong trading
relationship with China, Australia could tell that country to take a hike
until that relationship is either severely downsized or made completely
redundant.
Personally, I don’t see a war (whether hot or cold) involving China or the
United States or any other country for that matter as being in the best
interests of anyone. I had hoped the recent pandemic would have helped put a
number of geopolitical issues into some much-needed perspective, but it has
only helped to aggravate and accelerate them. |
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