Yes. The aptly described United States has certainly given the 'come on down' signal to Russia and China. Biden's America is short on respect, even from its allies. As for those allies, including Australia, heads are firmly in the sand.

"Biden's America is short on respect, even from its allies."
You omitted to state "thanks to the previous idiot incumbent".

80 years ago it was Germany and Japan that set the world down the road to war.

Today Russia and China stand in their place.

I think Russia and China have a secret agreement: China will support a Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia will support a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Things are definitely shaping up that way.

I suppose it is pretty obvious where all that iron ore from Australia is going: into Chinese warships, fighter jets, and tanks.

And Australians are boasting about how they are making so much money from sending the iron ore to China.

SUCKERS.

Why does "Pig Iron Scott" come to mind ?
I think the Chinese are plying the Russians as well as the rest of us.
Eastern Siberia is an obvious place for Chinese expansion.

Firstly an interesting article with an interesting take on Chinese aggression.
So many historic facts ignored in it though, which could sway the argument in the opposite direction. That would be towards the honest NZ view of China, IE, don’t even contemplate a war with China. It’s totally unwinable.

Secondly, there are no politicians in the modern west. What replaced statesmen of old, is a managerial class with sights set on personal gain through corporate Governance.
That is the focus that gave us so many dividing lines through Western society, as to make a war with any country unwinable.

To test that theory, why not an attempt at interning Chinese residing in Western democracies.

The world we inhabit now has no resemblance to the one of 1939.
Nationalism is firmly geared inwards towards civil war, not outwards towards China.

Dan.

diver dan,

Today Australia took a step towards formally decoupling from China.

It now needs to disenfranchise all the Chinese who came here from the PRC and send them packing to China with a big note pinned to them that reads 'Return to Xi".