America is our only true and trustworthy ally. It is surprising that even 32% trusts Communist China, with its dictatorial 'president for life'.

For years, China has been stealing secrets from the West, and it has been advantaged by an unfair trade regime. Trump is merely blowing the whistle on them, whereas previous US presidents weakly accommodated them. The Chinese cheating and weak US presidents - the two Bushes, Clinton and Obama - enabled a $375 billion US trade deficit in 2017.

Onya ttbn.

Of course Australia is coming closer to the USA. You would have to have the brains of a Greens voter if you did not understand that China is turning into an expansionist, fascist state. And the only one who has the power to stand up to this new fascist state is the USA. Australia's defenses are a disgrace and the only defense policy we have is to make token gestures, while fighting to the last American.

We buy submarines for social and environmental reasons, not military ones. The Australian army has 16% of the number of tanks in the Philippine Army. The continuing sagas of scandals in former defense purchases makes one wonder if people working in the Defense procurement organization have suddenly achieved massive wealth.

We bought the execrable Tiger helicopter gunship which crashed into Sydney Harbour during it's demonstration flight. After the purchase, it was mothballed because it's own crews considered it too dangerous to fly. Somebody should have been shot for that.

Every now and again, the newspapers rejoice that Australia is turning another "obsolete" FFG frigate into a fishing reef by scuttling it. These magnificent warships are so good that the US Navy is now recommisioning them back into service because of the threat from China. If we go to war with China, a war that looks more and more likely, you can bet it will be a "come as you are war" where there will be no time to build new ships or aircraft to replace losses.

During WW2, Britain would have lost the Battle of the Atlantic and would have been knocked right out of the war if it had not been for the leasing of 50 "obsolete" four stacker US destroyers that were converted into anti submarine frigates. These magnificent old warships were found to be very effective ships by the British Royal Navy, the US Navy, and ironically, the Japanese Navy. In the Mediterranean, Australia's own "scrap iron flotilla" earned high honours for their usefulness.

LEGO,

I recently read Hugh White's 'How to Defend Australia' which reveals what a joke our defences are. We cannot defend ourselves. We need America, and although White thinks we can no longer rely on America, I find it hard to believe that a fellow member of the Anglosphere would abandon us in a war with China.

However, we do have to do more to defend ourselves, and buy equipment from the U.S. instead of using defence for job creation. There are perfectly good American nuclear submarines available off the shelf, and we could have bought air warfare ships being built in Adelaide for $9 billion from America for $6 billion.

We are not spending enough on defence, and what we are spending money on is not the right stuff needed for conflict with a major Asian power.

New shipping building and development around Darwin would certainly assist and enlarge our long-standing, mutual interest, unity! As does the Marine base and our coastal, military only, reserves, where both they and we can combine and practice all manner of imaginative, secretive, military maneuvers.

Let's hope that these programs, development new base, manufacturing and combined exercises will be enlarged and continued far more frequently.

After all, should either of us get into a hot war? We will need not only the other but some gifted resettlement territory as well!
Alan B.

Luckily the Australian Government finally realised, in 2018, what I was writing about in OLO articles since 2008,

ie. Australia should be careful about Chinese money/influence. See Peter Coates:

"Embracing China involves risks for Australia" of 5 May 2008
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7324

"China could well be a problem for Australia" of 4 August 2008
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7724

"The fall of [Defence Minister] Fitzgibbon?" [due to Chinese connections] of 31 March 2009 at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8745

Also ASIO and AFP have been warning Australian Governments of both shades for years, to beware of Chinese money going to current and ex-politicians.

Too bad minister level ex-politicians in the Labor AND Liberal parties CONTINUE to be on the Chinese payroll, eg. large Chinese company consultancies for Liberal ex-politicians, academic "funding" aimed at specific Labor ex-politicians...