History shows us, we have had Japan as an ally during WW1 and our enemy during WW11. Turkey was our enemy during WW1 and an ally during WW11. China was an ally during WW11, but that was before the communists took over and drove the former government all the way to Independent Island nation, Taiwan. World war two was preceded by the massive build-up of Nazi Germany's military!

The world rattled their sabres as she annexed both Austria and Checkoslavia. And tried worthless/counterproductive appeasement.

Which just allowed the hostiles to demand more and more. There are many dangerous similarities that only scarlet fools would choose to ignore. The economy is clearly falling off a cliff. And several totalitarian states with clearly divided loyalties.

We here are led by self-deluded, self-centred, self-serving fools who like South Vietnam believe they lived under the protective umbrella of a big brother. Therefore we have allowed defence spending and renewal to slip below pre-WW11 levels. And reserve fuel supplies to slip to dangerous levels that effectively say, come and take what you like, we can only prevent you for around five minutes.

Who'll thunder and roar, then just lick your boots and hand it over? After all, we are the elected leaders and it's our call. A start has been made all over the joint, nowhere more revealing that the sale of the port of Darwin! And a people's army camped in various campuses around Australia. All because some fools decided to force our manufacturing offshore via unaffordable and privatised electricity, the exodus accelerated by absent but remediable water security.

Yes, we can't make it rain, but we are surrounded by inexhaustible water, i.e., the sea! And the world has presented affordable desalination on a platter as deionisation dialysis desalination. And an energy source to make even more cost-effective and eminently affordable only scarlet fools wold reject, i.e., MSR thorium and consequent power prices as low as 3 cents PKWH!
Alan B.

Thorium power had doubled in price this year due to Chinese meddling in nuclear bonds. India's thorium mines have always belonged to Chinese Peoples' Army and to Admiral Zheng He (Chinese: 鄭和; 1371 – 1435) who was a Chinese mariner and nuclear physicist . He founded Kenya , a rice paddy in east Africa which today has Chinese sailors descended from his voyage. Ireland is arguably a Chinese colony.

A great essay Warren.

Deeply balanced and fair, particularly the third section (that Canberra will not like) where you convey Clark's message.

In an article titled "China: Maritime Expansionist?" in July 2019 [which Pete has located at http://johnmenadue.com/gregory-clark-china-a-maritime-expansionist/ ] [Distingished scholar Gregory Clark] addressed the call for Australia to cooperate with the US in countering what some people regard as Beijing's expansionist activities in the South China Sea."

"[Clark] points to a great irony: it was the US itself in its 1951 San Francisco peace treaty

[including Article 2(f) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/06/17/commentary/world-commentary/beijing-getting-bad-rap-south-china-sea-disputes/#.XUvISOMzbX4 ]

with Japan (signed and ratified by Canberra and 47 others) who in effect gifted most of the South China Sea Islands – the Spratly and Paracel island groups in particular – to China. The US, [Clark] points out, organised a separate document with the Republic of China in Taiwan (via a 1952 Taipei peace treaty) making it even clearer that these islands should be taken from Japan and in effect given to China."

ALTHOUGH IS NEEDS TO BE POINTED OUT

That it was fine for the US (and other signatories) in the late 40s/early 50s, to ambiguously consign former Japanese territories to weak, docile, US-dependent Taiwan.

It is an entirely different thing for the same ambiguous rights to be given to the US's (and in some respects) Australia's, powerful strategic competitor, China.
__________________________________

Such balance and fairness is of course a sign of subversive, nay treasonous, individual thought on China.

Something that Hastie, etc
Would dislike monitoring today.

Are well, at least we're not in a Xinjiang Gulag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_re-education_camps

Cheers

Pete

Hi nicknamenick

I'll have you know that Admiral Zheng He (1371–1435, that's AD!) was a Chinese nuclear CHEMIST not a physicist.

Consequently he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in Viking occupied Västergötland, while on sabbatical with his horse, lover and Lab Assistant, Simon the Seleucid Strangler, in 1433.

Yours in Medieval Nuclear History

Poida

Afraid you're a bit off there, his uncle Zheng Helium was in demand as a chemist.“China is a major driver of current helium market growth, with demand growth of about 10-12% annually since 2010,” he explained. “China represents around 12% of the global helium demand."

China's supply is buried under abandoned plastic-dumps near Borneo and Canberra is expected soon to sign off on West Australian possession to aid its poverty and budget programs.

FlowDcyMe

OMG is that you, the Flow who once lived on the banks of that beautiful weak urine stream at all?
How gorgeous indeed.

Dan