Western Allies Need To push Back Against A More Aggressive
Western allies need to 'push back' against a more aggressive despite the threat of further economic pain, Australia's man in Washington warns.
Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos told the Hudson Institute in an online forum that Beijing is 'lashing out' at countries that are in any way critical of the increasingly authoritarian regime under Present .
But in a massive show of force, the British Royal Navy is preparing to send the largest naval fleet 'in a generation' to the South China Sea, in a move sure to infuriate the Communist Party.
the British military are preparing to send the largest naval fleet 'in a generation' to the South China Sea, in a move set to infuriate the Communist Party.
Pictured: kinh nghiệm du lịch côn đảo the HMS Queen Elizabeth
Australia and its allies will continue to 'push back' against a more aggressive China under Xi Jinping (pictured left), Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos (right) said.
Over the past year China has slapped over $20 billion worth of arbitrary trade bans and tariffs on Australian exports as punishment for calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the Covid pandemic - which first appeared in Wuhan in 2019.
The Communist Party is also furious at Australia for speaking out on China's human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, banning Huawei from the National Broadband Network and scrapping Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure deal with the Victorian government on the grounds of national security concerns.
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'We've had a few bumps in the relationship in recent times and I think that's a function of Beijing being more assertive and Côn Đảo aggressive in projecting its power in the region and countries like Australia pushing back,' Mr Sinodinos said.
'The relationship has reached a certain equilibrium and it's bumping along the bottom.'
Australia enjoyed a cozy relationship with China in years gone by, focusing on trade and economic cooperation while simultaneously strengthening its security and defence partnership with the US.
Shocking disparities between Australia and China's military power shows we would struggle in a war, amid fears that tensions both nations are nearing tipping point
Pictured: A US-made F-16 jet fighter lands on a runway in Taiwan
Pictured: Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers assembling during military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar, northwestern China's Xinjiang region
'As China has become more powerful and assertive under Xi Jinping the ground rules have changed and it's not so easy to compartmentalise things, particularly when it overlaps with our national security,' Mr Sinodinos said.
'So it wasn't so much a conscious policy decision that we are going to reset our relationship with China, Côn Đảo it was the accumulation of a series of decisions where we were elevating what was in our national interests and that antagonised China.'
Australia's man in Washington said it was unlikely there would be a 'reset' in the relationship any time soon.
'It's now China's attitude that if countries act this way they need to be put in their place,' he said.
'But allies and partners including the US by working together should push back in areas of overreach and convince China they are better off cooperating with the international system because we want them to be strong and prosperous, that's in everyone's interests.'
This is the route the British armada will take from next month, reaching Japan this summer after travelling via a number of hotspots that will upset Russia and China
During the voyage, the Navy will avoid the Taiwan Strait as 'Big Lizzie' sails towards Japan in the final leg of the trip to avoid provoking China
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news floatRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-61af9700-aa38-11eb-8f85-c126040204aa" website to US calls on Western countries to push back against China