Ask yourself, what would Xi do?

Defensive hawks never miss an opportunity. Netanyahu and Trump are causing trouble in the Middle East. But “Look over there! China!” Michael Pascoe reports.

The three-year period set by the disgraceful SMaj The series of Red Alerts for a Chinese attack on Australia passed last month without a PLA missile in sight. Never mind, Trump’s war is burning through America’s arms stockpile and weakening defenses in the Pacific by moving assets to the Middle East, so China can at least seize the opportunity to attack Taiwan at any time.

This is Xi’s golden opportunity.

Or so is the Sinophobia story, as the usual suspects continue to judge China by American standards. The opportunity to attack and wage war, kill people and blow things up, even if it’s “fun” as Mad King Donald confirms, doesn’t necessarily make it a smart thing to do.

Finance Times He reported that Taiwan is concerned that all the missiles the US has fired at Iran means there are not enough missiles left to defend Taiwan if China attacks.

With Donald J all the way, no matter what

And fear of China drives the unquestioning and uncritical obedience shown by Labor and the Coalition to the US, no matter how rogue the US is, no matter how unreliable the US proves to be, no matter how much damage it inflicts on us and our other allies, no matter how much it flaunts and abuses its self-endowed above-law status.

Among the many issues overlooked at the Prime Minister’s National Press Club meeting on Thursday, Nine’s Andrew Probyn had a very reasonable question about the damage Trump is doing to the social license of the AUKUS agreement.

The Albanians, of course, did not accept the essence of the problem and immediately withdrew from pledging allegiance to the flag, namely the American flag.

“The US alliance is the most important thing for us,” he said. “That’s still the case. And we trusted that. It became official in 1951, but the truth is it became official in the Second World War when John Curtin said ‘Australia is looking at America’. And they’ve been our most important military partner ever since. The AUKUS relationship is meaningful to us.”

AUKUS, really?

Asked if he would admit that Trump had damaged AUKUS’s social license, Albanese declined to answer. You will not speak ill of Trump.

I will admit that the ANZUS agreement has been read as a flimsy, non-binding document, not even a shadow of the NATO alliance that the Trump gang has threatened to scrap in the same way they have trashed so many other treaties and agreements.

One clear lesson from the war against Iran is that hosting American bases unsurprisingly makes the host a target when America enters war.

Even the most rabid China hawks cannot offer a reason for China to attack Australia other than striking the five American bases we host if the US attacks China.

We go through the looking glass, we need American military protection because we host American military protection.

What would Xi do?

This brings us to the most important question for our national security: the need to calmly ask ourselves: What would Xi do?

The guiding hands of the wealth we spend on defense are in the American mindset of the need to “contain” our most important economic partner, that is, to serve America’s perceived strategic and economic interests, not ours.

There is no clearer example than our nuclear-powered submarine frenzy, which promises, or perhaps just hopes, to deliver several operational boats best suited to serve in the South China Sea as part of the American navy.

This mindset views China through the American lens of militarism, imperialism, and entitlement. The easy answer to the question of what Xi will do is that he won’t do what Trump did.

If a Trump is running China, he might think this is a golden opportunity to take over Taiwan militarily. Fortunately, it is not so.

Why would China go to the trouble of going to war just to win Taiwan when it can steadily win the world by remaining peaceful? As aggressive as Trump’s America is,

The better China looks.

The current cover of The Economist magazine tells the story. (Although specific to the Economist, editorial He goes on at length about how China won, and suggests that perhaps America could win in the end.)

Trump doing his job

China knows that its brief “wolf warrior” period of blunt economic pressure was a mistake. He quickly learned his lesson and moved on. America’s continued tariff bullying, illegal seizures and blockades are making expelled Chinese wolves look like labrador puppies.

I repeat, if a Trump is running China, America has set a precedent with its blockade of Cuba, why shouldn’t it do the same to Taiwan and rein it in? After all, the world recognizes that Taiwan is part of China, unlike impoverished Cuba, which is a sovereign state.

You can imagine the anger and call to arms that would arise if China tried to starve Taiwan.

Again, thank goodness Xi is no Trump.

With brief and relatively minor exceptions, the hallmark of Chinese policy is preparation to play the long game. Taiwan’s main opposition party views Beijing favorably; Taiwan is witnessing the collapse of an incompetent United States and is itself suffering from American oppression.

An America that is preparing to leave NATO will not be too stressed about Taiwan.

China continues to improve its military capacity. Surrounded by American military bases and Russia, this is a logical thing to do as China’s defense spending as a percentage of GDP continues to hover around half that of the United States.

What would Xi do? I think he will continue to act in China’s interests, and China’s interest will be to avoid the waste of war and increasingly look like a more reliable partner than the United States.

The vast majority of the world understands this. Our most important neighbors do not want to be in either the American or Chinese camps, but small, insecure Australia at the bottom of Asia continues to seek to embed itself more deeply in American uniforms and continues to present itself to the region as America’s loyal Deputy Dawg.

Long ago, in peaceful days – early February – South China Morning Post Columnist Alex Lo wrote: forward thinking piece This may be a quick guide to China’s international position in terms of what happened next:

China has few red lines. But life can be smooth and wonderful if you respect them. China doesn’t care whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or atheist. You don’t care if your government is democratic, theocratic or dictatorial. If you want to do business, China will be happy to partner with you.

It’s okay if you need help; It won’t tell you what to do with the money or otherwise dictate your financial situation, as long as it sees some commercial, strategic, or diplomatic return. He doesn’t do this out of the goodness of his heart, but he always appreciates a win-win situation. The Global South understands this. The West, which likes to intervene and dictate, does not do this.

China is not interfering in your elections, overthrowing your government or staging a coup, kidnapping your political leaders and their spouses, or imposing sanctions on your country that impoverish and starve its population.

It does not operate hundreds of military bases around the world that will turn your country into the stage for the next world war. It does not invade other countries. He doesn’t demand loyalty or force you to choose a side, as long as you hold up your end of the bargain. China is building; It’s not bombing.

In this respect, China is the most transactional and ideology-free country in the world. Do not cross red lines such as the return of Taiwan, the legitimacy of Communist Party rule, and the unity of the Chinese nation. Everything else is negotiable.

The contrast with the United States is sharpening.

There was a question I wanted to ask at the National Press Club on Wednesday:

Putting the current war aside, the survivors of the US killings are clinging to the wreckage of the boat, the Prime Minister said. commits acts of piracy that seize ships, imposes an illegal blockade on Cuba by denying essential goods, regularly breaks treaties, economically burdens the world, has an Administration that combines its own enrichment with politics, and much more – is there a red line the US can cross that will make you see that you are criticizing Trump?

No fog, no war. Hegseth’s war crimes put Australian soldiers at risk

But you know the answer. We know our place.