“Beijing deployed a naval task group to the waters around Australia for three related reasons. First, to demonstrate the reach and potency of Chinese sea power and to put Australia on notice that it is vulnerable to the application of that power. Second, to test our political and military responses. Third, to rehearse for wartime operations against Australia”. (Michael Pezzullo, ‘Australia's defences must be ready in two years. Here's what to do’, 8/3/25).

Pezzullo is the former Secretary for Home Affairs sacked because he allegedly engaged in “gossip and disrespectful critique” of government ministers.

He writes that the CCP'S circumnavigation of Australia, with live firing exercises, was “most likely” a test of how China could most effectively launch missile strikes on Australia's military facilities and national infrastructure.

Pezzullo advises that we should not “delude ourselves” that the Chinese action was a benign exercise conducted lawfully in International waters. See Albanese's mutterings.

The Australian government's initial response to the action “could not have been better scripted in Beijing itself”, in Pezzullo's opinion. He also believes that China's action was a “rehearsal” as well as an attempt at “strategic intimidation”, should Australia think about joining the in the protection of Taiwan, and the fact that Australia, as an ally of the US, would be a strategic geographical asset for for the US in any conflict between the two powers.

It is in the best interests of the CCP to neutralise Australia, as it is with other countries in the region, to deny the US - its number one enemy - the chance to get close to China.

Albanese's bragging about having a stabilised trading deal with China is no protection from being on China's military hit list.

So, we need to be ready by 2027, which is also the date that some of the pundits are predicting China will invade Taiwan. For Pezzullo's must-do list, Google ‘The Strategist’. Nothing will be done, of course.

A grim, but correct analysis.

"should Australia think about joining the in the protection of Taiwan, and the fact that Australia, as an ally of the US, would be a strategic geographical asset for for the US in any conflict between the two powers."

Well Australia is no longer an ally of the US because the US no longer has or wants any allies.

Australia is therefore no longer able to help in the protection of Taiwan and must instead pull its weight by accepting a significant portion of the Taiwanese people as refugees.

If Taiwan manages an orderly retreat, then along with these refugees, some of Taiwan's military capabilities may also end up here and become important assets in defending Australia!

Yet the only way to defend Australia's shores is with non-conventional weapons, so I doubt that we can do much in just two years.

Nevertheless, we may be able to buy some more time while China first concentrates on conquering Taiwan and closer countries.

That time should be used not only to acquire non-conventional weapons but also to develop Australia's own oil production and refineries, because the first thing China will do to bring Australia down on its knees is to blockade oil supplies. We should of course forget about hypothetical Australian oil-reserves in America - consider them lost already.

Also, re-develop our own manufacturing infrastructure and skills.

And also, strengthen our ties with India as much as possible.
India has its own problems so is less than perfect, yet we have no other nuclear ally in the region.

hahahaha
With the orange nazi in the white house I hear the people of Taiwan are wondering if China is that bad after all.
If that fool can take Greenland,Gaza,Panama and Canada and poo tin can have Ukraine then why cant China take Taiwan. Hell we could do with a few tropical islands in the pacific ourselves. Why cant we annex say Fiji or the Solomons? For security purposes of course.

If Australia wants to stop China sending its navy on little visits maybe we should stop patrolling and wargaming off their coasts.

Gee-wiz,

November 2023, the Australian warship HMAS Toowoomba sailed through the Taiwan Strait in international waters, The waterway separates mainland China from it recognized territory of Taiwan. Other Australian navel vessels have previously transited the Taiwan Strait. The US navy sends ships through the strait about once a month in what it calls “routine” transits. China regularly objects to these maneuvers as being provocative.

How about we keep out of the Taiwan Strait and China keeps out of Bass Strait. Pezzullo is nothing more than a warmongering Liberal Party flunky.

Some Australians certainly appear to be out-dumbing the Americans !

The threat posed to Australia is too scary for some people to accept; by kidding themselves that there is no threat (even though China has never tried to hide the fact that it wants to replace the US in our region) they feel safer: they can stay in denial. Our political class is also in denial and totally unprepared for what could happen. China knows this, and is going to become more aggressive.

If China gets into Torres Strait proper (they already have fishing vessels there) then India will start jumping up & down because just about all international shipping through there is piloted by Indian Master Mariners. Australians have long ago priced themselves out of that game.
In fact it's not if but when China starts taking over the North of Australia for good. Darwin harbour was first & other places have already followed. The former Qld State Government has handed back huge masses of land to the indigenous with no strings attached or regard given to the infrastructure there provided by Australian Taxpayers.
All Labor orientated politicians, bureaucrats & voters should have to live there in the mess of their making !

Indy,

When you had the opportunity to enlist WHY did you fail to do so? Its not too late you know! As a new innovation I suggest the Seniors National Service incorporate a "floating flotilla" of your kind of folk, to take on the Chinese menace at sea! BTW; How are you at rowing?

"So, we need to be ready by 2027, which is also the date that some of the pundits are predicting China will invade Taiwan. For Pezzullo's must-do list, Google ‘The Strategist’. Nothing will be done, of course."

I think you and your war mongering friends should themselves be ready and we can tell the Chinese they are coming.
We should give them as much arms and ammo as they can carry and even a vessel big enough for all of them.

If you lot wish to go fight a country of 2 billion, who am I to stop you?
- But please just leave the rest of us out of it.

Meanwhile I wish to be dining at the local Chinese restaurant, with my beef and oyster sauce and special fried rice and continue to enjoy my cheap imported Chinese made stuff from Kmart, Officeworks, Big W, JB Hifi, Supercheap etc, and I really hope you foolhardy adventurers don't screw that up for me or end up getting the whole entire country destroyed.

Also please don't go wasting billions on pointless wars we can't win.
Defence is one thing, picking fights another.

"The threat posed to Australia is too scary for some people to accept; by kidding themselves that there is no threat (even though China has never tried to hide the fact that it wants to replace the US in our region) they feel safer: they can stay in denial. Our political class is also in denial and totally unprepared for what could happen. China knows this, and is going to become more aggressive."

We could always just quit five eyes, (or is it four-eyes now Trump seems to be going a different path and maybe the rest are trying to collectively impose their will against him?)
The deep state (bureaucrats) are going to do what a deep state does...
- And engage in a policy of neutrality and stop provoking them?

We could always engage in diplomacy instead of being weasels, chihuahua's and baboons?

Dear Critic,

World-order has just changed, America no longer exists and now we need time to adjust and arm ourselves.

Chinese warships are already circling Australia and train for invasion.
China doesn't care what we think or say, including whether we are neutral: for China, Australia is just one big hole in the ground full of minerals and its people do not mean for China any more than their own Uighurs.
If China has its way, then the younger Australian generations that can still work physically will be sent to the outback to dig, earning only water and bread till they fall, while the older folk like us will just starve to death sooner.

I support a tactical retreat, not surrender!
Luckily, Australia is a bit more defensible because it is geographically further away from China than Taiwan, so if some of the Taiwanese air-force and navy ends up here, then we may still stand a chance to survive.

Meanwhile we should cherish every remaining friend.

America no longer exists
Yuyutsu,
Well, it's outlasted Europe & Australia !

World peace is severely jeopardised by ideological stupidity of people who only exist through parasitism !

Dear Indyvidual,

«World peace is severely jeopardised by ideological stupidity of people who only exist through parasitism !»

World peace is severely jeopardised by stupidity of people.

When was world peace last been observed?

Well, never - because there were no people at the time to observe it!

Yuyutsu,
I failed to add "Achieving World peace" ....

Dear Indyvidual,

Achieving world peace?

Well good luck indeed.
I cannot recall when we ever had one in any historical time.

Yes, according to Hindu scripture there indeed was a period of world peace, called "Krita Yuga", but the last such period ended some 2,165,127 years ago, that is before the advent of Homo-Sapiens.

2,165,127 years ago
Yuyutsu,
Lol, quite funny !

'Two Years To Face China'
- That ship has already sailed, the West would lose and go nuclear.
Going to war against Chine will not result in a good outcome by any means.

Dear Critic,

«Going to war against Chine will not result in a good outcome by any means.»

But who is going to war here?

Certainly not Australia!

We are under attack: China wants to dig up and plunder Australia, and in the process also finish up its population: it needs the ores, not the people - so what do you suggest Australia should do, assuming that we have no non-conventional weapons of our own?

"We are under attack: China wants to dig up and plunder Australia, and in the process also finish up its population"

Got any evidence of that? China is our biggest trade partner, we have many good hard working Chinese immigrants and almost everything we own is made in China. What sort of weirdo paranoid war mongering makes you say "We are under attack"?

Foreign investment in Australia US 25% UK 19% and China 5%. Yuyutsu your statement is rubbish, the irony is, its through foreign investment from our "friends" that facilities the supply of raw materials from Australia to China.

Dear Mikk,

The evidence is the Chinese warships circling Australia and shooting for practice.

Yes, till now China and Australia were trade partners, but why should China trade with Australia if it can get what it wants for free?

China does not need the Australian people and their skills - it has plenty of both: all it needs from Australia is its minerals.

Now that America is no more, China can go ahead and is preparing to do what they deem best for China, not for us.

Chinese immigrants?
Yes, they are wonderful people who were so far fortunate to escape the Chinese regime, but not for much longer, I am afraid, as they will perish along the rest of us once China invades.

There is not much we can do, only India may protect us now, perhaps, and as I mentioned earlier, if we manage to gather here some of the Taiwanese air-force and navy, then that may increase our chances of survival.

---

Dear Paul,

China does not need to invest in Australia as no finances are needed, just make all working-age Australians dig for them for free at gunpoint till they drop.

Competition over AI in China is getting serious.
A month or so back it was DeepSeek that beat out the Western efforts Open AI.
But it's not silicone valley that beating China now, but China who is beating China.
The West is going to be left in the dust.
http://manus.im/

Hi Yuyutsu,

You are delusional if you think mining is some pick and shovel operation in Australia, in fact its a high investment operation with a relatively small workforce. A good proportion of foreign investment in Australia is in mining, my point being, it is through our "friends" investment in our resource sector that facilitates the massive Chinese world trade.

Dear Paul,

Whatever mining requires which presently foreign investment pays for,
the Chinese will take for free, whatever workforce, big or small they need:

If they need hands, holding picks and shovels, then they will take hands,
if they need drivers then they will take drivers,
but if they need brains, then they will take brains,
if they need explorers, then they will take explorers,
if they need scientists, then they will take scientists,
if they need teachers to train their own people in the same crafts of mining, then they will take teachers,
all at gunpoint, they can get exactly the same and more, just without paying
- and those they won't need, those of us they can discard, they will just kill.

Hi Yuyutsu,

Without evidence, you seem to harbour a very disagreeable opinion of the Chinese; "and those (Australians) they (Chinese) won't need, those of us they can discard, they will just kill."

The greatest weapon against a people is not guns, but fear, you seem to be well taken by fear of China. I believe we should be concerned about the rise of China in the scheme of thing, but it is their great rival the United States that wants to instill fear into people like you. Fear makes you more compliant, and therefore easily manipulated.

Dear Paul,

«you seem to be well taken by fear of China.»

Perhaps when I was younger, then I could be afraid of being taken in chains to dig the outback in 50° heat with only a bit of water as my salary.
But at my age? If the Chinese still took me now, then it would be considered a compliment...

And as for being killed, what could be better than having it all finished in a second by one bullet, compared with years of agonizing deterioration in a nursing home?

«but it is their great rival the United States that wants to instill fear into people like you.»

Why the hell?
Not that they do, not that I have anything to do with them, but what possibly could they hope to gain out of it?

Anyway, the United States is no longer relevant: whatever they promise is not worth the vapour from their mouth and whatever they sign is not worth the paper it is written on.

Also, the United States is no longer a rival of China, now that Trump, Putin and Xi all share the same philosophy and America is now only interested in taking over nearby countries like Canada, Greenland and Panama.

«Without evidence, you seem to harbour a very disagreeable opinion of the Chinese»

Just look at how they treat their own people, look at the millions they killed and tortured and the enormous destruction during their "cultural revolution", then how they treat the Uyghurs and Tibetans, look also at Chinese cruelty throughout their dynasties - then extrapolate how would they treat total strangers like us (if they can get away with it, as now they can)?

Vae Victis.

Here an interesting piece of info for you Yuyutsu..
The Americans are using the Uighur's to cause civil unrest in China.
- But China put a stop to that... To the Wests dismay

But get this, the West still had use for these Muslim extremists
The West sent them to Syria to fight with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham to help overthrow Assad.
True story.

I'd dig up the links, but everyone just thinks I'm the fool and never looks at my links anyway,
- a quick search will find that Uighur's of the Turkistan Islamic Party did help overthrow Assad.

Dear Critic,

Joking about people undergoing a holocaust, is just completely sick!

Locked up deep in Chinese concentration camps, they somehow according to you arrived in... Syria... yet even from Syria they are still unable to call their families and tell them whether they are alive or dead - how sick!

Next you will claim that China's cultural revolution did not happen either and that Tibet was a Western conspiracy too? Oh, the Falun Gong also...

Hi again Yuyutsu,

"Just look at how they treat their own people, look at the millions they killed and tortured"

The same can be said of America, Australia, Britain, etc what makes China different, the colour of their skin? Mans inhumanity to man is the greatest evil that has ever been perpetrated! Agree?

Reading a book 'Black Convicts' by Santilla Chingaipe, full of interesting anecdotes.

Take this one for example; A white plantation owner would have a truculent black slave held down while another black slave would be forced to defecate in that persons mouth, before having his mouth sown up. No, not in China, but a common practice in America.

Another example, black babies buried with only their heads protruding, while white men on horseback raced each other to club (decapitate) these poor screaming children in a grotesque sort of polo game. No, not in China, but a common practice in Australia.

Dear Paul,

All true, I recently saw pictures of the way American non-citizen prisoners were sent over to be imprisoned in El Salvador. That was terrible horror, I am sorry I saw these pictures and am glad that I managed to resist the video.

I also read about the treatment of convicts in Australia.
Shocking, disgusting and shameful.
While factual, I cannot recommend such reads.

Now you ask "what makes China different" - well one thing is that they are militarily capable of invading Australia quickly and with almost no casualties on their side, the second is that among the three, China is geographically closer to Australia than America and Russia, the third is its big appetite for Australian minerals, the fourth is China's lack of checks and balances such as a free press or judiciary, its own people being under constant surveillance.

"Joking about people undergoing a holocaust, is just completely sick!"
- Well, they're not going through a holocaust. It was just Islamic extremists empowered by the west to rise up against the Chinese authorities. China did what they had to to put and end to it and now there's peace.

What's going on in the Palestinian territories and Syria, that's sick.
I'll dig the link up for you later, since you seem to be misinformed.

Tibet, I'd have to look into it, but I'll get back to you.

The criminals from El Salvador don't deserve much in the way of human rights, they're all mass murderers and they ended up on US soil doing the same thing.

When the newly elected leader of El Salvador cracked down on the MS13 gangs the West went into uproar, but El Salvador went from the murder capital of the planet to one of the safest countries in Central America after Costa Rica.

Militant Uyghurs in Syria threaten the Chinese government
http://www.economist.com/china/2025/01/09/militant-uyghurs-in-syria-threaten-the-chinese-government

"AS REBELS STORMED across Syria late last year, eventually toppling the country’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, some were accompanied by fighters from a foreign militant organisation—one with ambitions that extend far beyond Damascus. These men had roots in the Chinese region of Xinjiang and were members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), a group which aims to establish an Islamic state spanning Xinjiang and other parts of Central Asia."

The Trump Administration's Silent Complicity as Syrian Death Squads Slaughter Alawites, Christians
http://youtu.be/dGSU0e8mvfQ

- Rubio is complaining that Thailand is planning to send them back to Xinjiang, but what he wants is for them to travel onto Syria.
There's more, but I'd have to dig it up.

Dear Critic,

«Well, they're not going through a holocaust.»

Neither were the European Jews?
Oh, they were just cleansed...
Goebbels would be proud of you!

«It was just Islamic extremists»

Police: What did your first husband die of?
Woman: Poison!
Police: What did your second husband die of?
Woman: Poison!
Police: What did your third husband die of?
Woman: Poison!
Police: What did your fourth husband die of?
Woman: A bullet to the head!
Police: Why not from poison like the rest?
Woman: That extremist refused to drink his coffee!

«empowered by the west to rise up against the Chinese authorities.»

In China, any person that refuses to accept Xi as God is considered an extremist.

If anyone indeed, as you claim, helped the Uyghurs to rise up against the cruel Chinese regime and flee their country, then I'm proud of that hero.

Moses grew up like a prince in Pharaoh's court, but instead of enjoying a life of comfort like a Westerner, he cried out: "Let My People Go!", then followed it up in quite extreme ways.

I wish I could do more myself, for the Uyghurs and for all other oppressed minorities in China.

«What's going on in the Palestinian territories and Syria, that's sick.»

Yes it is, but that doesn't reduce your own sickness of heartlessness.

«The criminals from El Salvador don't deserve much in the way of human rights»

Here is another example of your heartlessness.
I care for those prisoners, I care that they be treated humanely, I care for the Israeli hostages who are innocent, but I care also for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails - mass murderers indeed, rapists as well, etc., etc., yet they are human too, and no human (nor even animals) should be treated that way.

Just saw your last post.
"Militant Uyghurs in Syria threaten the Chinese government"
I was not allowed to read the article, but if the title is correct then I wish them every success.

«some were accompanied by fighters from a foreign militant organisation»

Being in two places at once? Chinese concentration camps and Syria?

You should stop worrying about fake genocides in China with no substantiating evidence, and pay more attention to what's going on in Israel and Palestine.

Lots of Israeli source material here:

Depression: Why Jews Are Leaving Israel, Forever!
http://youtu.be/njN-4A4Ay6E

Watch Every Former Israeli 'Hostage' Destroy Israel’s Lies About Oct 7
http://youtu.be/vAFtVqwuDhA

You know if it wasn't for the ability to carefully choose the content I watch, I'd be just as clueless believing all the lies as all the rest of you lot here.
As clueless and misinformed as the Jewish owned mainstream media keeps you all.
The sad part about that is you all think I'm the one whose wrong and misinformed chasing conspiracy theories, but it's the opposite.

Hi AC,

Just as we in the West have a problem with Islamic extremists, so does China, as you rightly point out. But in the case of China the Western attitude is our enemies enemy is our friend. There is about 20 to 25 million Muslims in China, mostly in the western Xinjiang region with the majority Uyghur's. China has tried a de-radicalization program with the Uyghur population, who want a Pan-Islamic state (Turkistan) established in Central Asia.

Dear Critic,

It is clear that you do not like to talk about China and its atrocities.

We have had many discussions about Israel already, and we may have more in future, but that is no excuse to ignore the Chinese-inflicted holocaust of the Uyghur people and even the suffering of the Chinese people themselves under their cruel regime.

P.S. I don't need Al-Jazeera for telling me that Israelis are depressed - I know it first hand, I speak with them. Netanyahu the traitor has destroyed Israel, perhaps irreversibly.

I don't know about Uyghur people in other countries - their circumstances could be different, and you may hate them because they happen to be the enemy of the enemy of your enemy, yet the Uyghur people who are locked up in China are far more depressed than any Israeli - Let them go!

---

Dear Paul,

There is nothing wrong about being Muslim.
There is nothing wrong about worshipping God and not Xi (or Putin, or Trump).
There is nothing wrong about sticking with God through thick and thin.
There is nothing wrong about the people of a region seeking independence and not accepting an invading predatory foreign power.
There is nothing wrong about oppressed people wanting to escape to freedom, to where they can freely observe their own religion and customs.

The same is true for China.
The same is true for Russia.
The same is true for America.
The same is true for India.
The same is true for Israel.
The same is true for Australia.

The Communist Chinese circumnavigation of our country is a “foreign challenge”, but the pathetic response to it clearly shows that:

“The assumption still reigns in Australia that military threats are something that happen to other people a long way away and will never come to our homeland. With that belief, we have indulged ourselves in the luxury of merely incremental increases in defence budgets, rather than the transformative investment that is now needed”.

Australia needs to double its defence budget. We need better ability to manage military contingencies in our strategic approaches without depending on the United States.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-needs-greater-defence-self-reliance-and-extra-funding/

Australia needs to double its defence budget.
ttbn,
Better off just recruiting mercenaries in time of need. More skills, more commitment & better everything all round instead of overpaid career military bureaucrats.

"The Communist Chinese circumnavigation of our country is a 'foreign challenge'..."

I don't really care if they sail around our country in international waters pounding their chests.
- But perhaps a sufficient enough deterrent might be some short range nukes if any invasion force ever gets too close;
- if we can even match their missile technology and they don't get shot down.
- or maybe a small fleet of mini-subs to operate within our maritime boundaries to hamper any invasion force.

Beyond that we should stay out of their business and stop provoking them.
- I'd rather we continue doing business with them, because it puts food on Aussies tables.

Hi Yuyutsu,
"It is clear that you do not like to talk about China and its atrocities."
I don't deny that some horrible stuff has gone on with Tibet.
What I'm not sure of is whether or not the U.S had any hand in fomenting dissent to begin with.
As for the Uighurs, no-one has any seen any evidence, it's all narrative, people can be bought to say anything though there may be some basis for criticism.
Take the young girl who spoke about babies in incubators prior to the war in Iraq, it was all lies to the sell the public a war.
The U.S. likes to stir up trouble, and then use it as a pretext to admonish or sanction and intervene militarily.
- It's just how they operate, I wish it wasn't so, a lot of these conflicts are essentially part of the U.S. policy 'Wolfowitz doctrine', maintaining U.S. primacy.

I wonder how many people living in Australia are actually interested in maintaining this Nation as a Western i.e. European Nation ?
My guess is it is no more than half & of that half, half are too indifferent to care until it's too late ! What could possibly be done to change the mentality that keeps so many voting Labor ? They don't seem to grasp that Labor is not Labor anymore !
The Coalition is not much better but better its & with more support & less sabotage, the Coalition can rescue Australia ! Labor won't !

Dear Critic,

«As for the Uighurs, no-one has any seen any evidence, it's all narrative... ... ... The U.S. likes to stir up trouble»

Yeah, so long as America exists we can be believe in nothing, absolutely nothing!

See what happened in Iraq, couldn't the same happen in China too?
So nope indeed, we cannot speak about China either, not even about New-Zealand.

"Seen the moon last night"
- "You cannot be sure of that, it could be fake, the Americans might have planted some mirror-work in the sky"
"But the moon is even mentioned in the Bible"
- "But how can you be sure that your Bible, all Bibles, was not re-written and swapped by the Americans in the dead of night?"

Could you be an American agent perhaps, Armchair Critic?
Deliberately saying bad things about America, then checking who agrees with you here, only to later hand them over to the CIA?

---

Dear Indyvidual,

«I wonder how many people living in Australia are actually interested in maintaining this Nation as a Western i.e. European Nation ?»

I wonder how many people living in Australia are actually interested in maintaining this nation.

I, for one, do not, as I do not endorse this fake notion of "nation".

As for maintaining a Western/European character, I may have my personal preferences but they are irrelevant, because it is not my place to dictate other people's lifestyles.

«What could possibly be done to change the mentality that keeps so many voting Labor ?»

Well something in your logic must be wanting, because while I answered your first question in the negative, still I do not vote Labor.

The lack of interest is clearly displayed by both the politicians' and public's "response" to the latest aggressive action by China.

The PLAN sail-around Australia firing weapons was a demonstration of contempt and intimidation towards Australia: a sign of what is in store for us if our politicians don't sit up and take notice.

Why wouldn't the Xi Communist dictatorship hold us in contempt when our prime minister actually defended their aggression!

Dear Ttbn,

It is said that when a pigeon sees a cat, it closes its eyes.

Eyes open or closed, I don't think there is much else we can do, unless Australia already has some secret stash of non-conventional weapons in the ready, which I doubt.

Years of relying on this stupid America have rendered us helpless.

We don't own 'international waters'
Chinese can do whatever they want in it.

Looks like part of the U.S. motive for peace in Ukraine is separating Russia from Iran, I think there's a fairly good chance they're going to attempt to choke it financially, take out the leadership (even if it means turning it into Syria) and then making it subservient to the West and Israel.

Trump may not be willing to risk an open confrontation with Russia but he's doing pretty much the same in other regions of the world.

"politicians' and public's "response" to the latest aggressive action by China". This intimidating action by China, was their response to a bit of saber rattling on Australia's part, having the navy frigate Toowoomba sail through the Taiwan Strait in November 2023, no doubt at America's insistence. If the intention was to intimidate Australia, i think it worked.

ttbn, what response would you be in favour of, following that particular action by the Chinese?

BTW; The Australian navy is about as effective in these kinds of things as is the Swiss navy!

Dear Paul,

Yes, China's intimidation worked, but only because we can no longer rely on America.
Well America was unreliable before too, but now we know it.

So knowing that America will not be willing to save anyone in this region, not even try to come to anyone's aid, it is clear that the present front line is indefensible.

China will take over Taiwan in the not so distant future and there is nothing we can do about that, so a tactical retreat is in order and answering your question to Ttbn:

«ttbn, what response would you be in favour of, following that particular action by the Chinese?»

1) Bring in to Australia as many Taiwanese people together with their weapons: yes, the Australian navy is about as effective in these kinds of things as is the Swiss navy, but the Taiwanese navy is more significant. While we cannot save the Taiwanese people over there, we can still give them a new home here, which they will fight for and defend with us and know quite well how to.

2) In understanding that China will blockade Australia, drill for oil locally in Bass Strait and rebuild oil refineries.

3) Restart manufacturing everything that we presently get cheaply from China.

4) Increase defence ties with India and Indonesia.

5) Start working towards acquiring non-conventional weapons.