That is the case Don. The Port of Darwin was leased to China by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory in 2015.. said to aid its economy. This has been seen by some in my country as the early days of Beijing's secretive Belt & Road scheme. New legislation has now been enacted that will stop a foreign nation from owning or even leasing Australian infrastructure seen as vital to the national interest. Also that all state projects seen as contrary to that national interest will be disallowed by the Fed govt. This has already been done with the Feds overiding Victoria State from conducting a Belt & Road deal with the CCP, which incidently, has pi**ed off Beijing no end. As Australia is a soverign nation surely we decide the compensation payment for the return of Darwin Port and other infrastructure projects with Chinese interest.. not Beijing. Here Ji Ping.. $200 bucks take it or leave it.
You should had added "China must return sovereignty of 1,000.000 of acres of land (Pampas) to Argentina. Trump must come back if we want to succeed in " fencing"" China.
I think Trump and Biden are on the same page re China Silvia. Like my Australia is with whoever the US has as a President. We're staunchly bipartisan on that. Locked in stone almost. Our Prime Minister 'Scott Morrison' has been "very accomodating" to the US's dealings with China, with both Trump and Biden, and all their predessors, often speaking out lately exposing again and again the horrible numerous Chinese practices. It is not just Cultural differences or redemption for past injustices, they're just a nasty micro managing Culture with Godlike totalitarium, authotritarian powers?.. A structured dictatorship not subject to the people's needs nor desires. Communists at their worst. In so many ways they act without any compassion, they would turn all their neighbours into Slave states. They lack humanity and soul. I would wish we all stand up to their greedy bullying and thieving tactics. Honour seems a concept no longer in their vocabulary. They have brain washed their own people even to the point of social status rankings, and all their endemic AI facial recognition technology. It goes on and on, and my Australia is like the US in finding such 'Big Brother' tactics abhorrent. Disgusting. Worse than Huxley's '1984' novel. I agree with the recent chatter that the drums of war are beating. Our PM been spouting that Rhetoric at Biden's request I suspect. Then again, our PM 'Scott Morrison' is a poor spin Doctor and often puts his foot in his mouth, or does he? My Aussie mate Craig and I differ on Morrison. Radio talk today mentioned inviting more US bases to establish themselves here, Naval and other forces. North Coast and my remote Western Coast. You'd be very welcome and it would pump money into my States economy. In fact, if we go to war with China my Resource rich State of WA would loose the most given our huge iron ore and other mineral exports to China. It'd be worth it to cut off their metal supplies and like with our Chinese tarriffed goods, we're finding new and better markets. Amazingly, against all predictions, Oz's economy is almost booming. I reckon because we got Covid under control quickly. We're really naturally paranoid! Distances and luck I reckon. In fact, boycott all trade with them. Even Nationalise all their asetts here. They even already own a quarter of the Wineries here that they put dreadful tarriffs on. Opps. Australia is with you, not too sure about New Zealand but bet they'd join the fray if it started. There are fearsome warriors. There still is the ANZUS treaty too that Australia has always honoured when asked. Korea, Vietnam, Middle East, ...the Kiwis weren't so enthusiastic. Aussies and NZ Soldiers are second to none imho. Almost 20 years now in Afganistan for the Aussies. Please pardon my long ramble Silvia and others, it's an issue many Aussies are passionate about, and on the news almost everyday. Thanks too for all the high tech weaponry. F35's, satelite surveillance tech, over the horizon missiles, .... A mate's son tells me the US has a Raptor fighter plane even better than the F35's and not for sale? Now is a good time to front up to China like provoking them by sending an Armada of navies through the South China seas. US, Aus, SK, Japan, Phillipines, Maylasia,..... Even giving formal recognition to Taiwan as an independent state, and Hong Kong. That'd start their big bad tantrums! Still, as Churchill said, " Better to jaw jaw than war war." But the Chinese can't seem to talk. Their diplomatic skills seem often counterproductive. It's very easy being an armchair General. Mea Culpa.
Terence, To read your post is not only painful but terrorizing. If what you wrote takes place nothing the smaller countries could do to save their skin. I don't claim to know the Australians but the six weeks I spent in your country were a pleasure I won't forget. As the New Zealanders, the Aussies are very sweet and their curiosity about my country was honest.
Silvia, hopefully it'll all be sabre rattling only but the Chinese will take advantage of that I bet. They never let a chance go by. They're slippery, like snakes, so I hear from my Asian Indian friends. I cannot deny nor accept that China caused this Covid Pandemic, but they sure are cagey and obstructive about its inquiry, like guity children throwing tantrums. Simply because my Australia was the first to ask for a Covid investigation into the Wuhan outbreak, they've put incredible economic sanctions upon us. Draconian. We're better than surviving tho, and have strong US allies... It goes against my states interests, especially being the Nations economic powerhouse, but I'd suffer to see China come to heel. Thier agenda is dated! I'm currently wearing in some tough and fancy Chinese Winter boots (laces n zips, best I could find) at only $10 a pair. I'm weak, I bought 2 pairs.
While reading your post (and learning on this subject) I couldn't help but to remember the massive Colossus of Rhodes living a very short life. For some reason I believe China won't succeed.
What diplomatic skills Terence. For them is is either my road or no road. When Australia speaks out Beijing calls us "America's lap dog" or "a piece of dog doo on a Chinese boot". They are real charmers these commies with boundless undiplomatic skills.
Xi Van Fleet a wonderful, brave woman who escaped Communist China and is warning against CRT in American schools. We just refuse to 'get it'.
Crikey Mary, even Trump saw their insidious economic, cyber attacks and intellectual propety theft, as does Biden. They are unscrupulous. To quote you a little Mary, Fleet as you say below: "Xi Van Fleet a wonderful, brave woman who escaped Communist China and is warning against CRT in American schools." Good on her. Russia is less of a threat to the western world than China is. The longer we wait, the stronger and more ambitious China becomes.
"I think now the relationship between China and the United States is not reversible, unless there is a clear loss of one side," Mr Deng said. Speaking is Deng Yuwen, a researcher at the US-based China Strategic Analysis Centre think tank and former deputy editor of the Central Communist Party School's official newspaper, in response to Beijing's new Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, which was signed off by Xi Jinping this week and is a wide-ranging legal framework to defend the country's sovereignty, security and interests, after the US and the EU increased sanctions against Chinese officials due to Beijing's alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Craig, Please, allow me a stupid question: How the world will prevent China from spreading a second and more visious virus?
My point too, @Silvia Benoit . I do believe China has a number of variants in its arsenal, and I believe India is getting a sample of one at the present. Hydroxychloroquine has been discussed in other threads, but it seems to not be effective against the strain currently infecting the Indian population. That indicates to me that the Chinese molecular biologists have "tweaked" the virus to make it more resistant. I assume they could do the same thing to make the vaccines not be effective as well, perhaps by altering the spike protein structure of the virus.
Great comment, Don Alaska, but what I want to know is what the world will do to prevent China from increasing the potency of the present / future viruses and by doing so reducing the effectiveness of any vaccine we develop. I am all for learning languages but Mandarin is not in my list.
Correction of me by me: It was Orwell who wrote"1984", not Huxley. That greying of worlds China aspires to. I reckon one of the few benefits of Wars is an accelerated development of technology Silvia, and in the context of this Biological War much has been learned that will bode us better into our future. Maybe finally sorting out this Covid curse may lead to cures for the common cold and influenzas...? Good from Bad.
That's not a stupid question, I think. The world is not at all concerned with preventing China, or any other country, from spreading more so-called virus theories. It does not have to be a real nor true virus, ever, when they are able , like Dalt Wisney, to make it all up and convince people of it to distract them from what is really killing thousands every day, all known decades ago. The world loves causing destruction - death-dealing. See the historical records of how the corporations in the usa increased disease in the united states between wwi and wwii more than ten-fold and caused the change in military requirements to be drafted or to enlist.