Australia’s Bigger Headache Is the US, Not China
Beijing is being predictably assertive. Washington’s next move is harder to figure out.
Security ally throws up an unusual paradox.
Photographer: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
It's easy to be direct with an adversary — far less so with an ally. Australia's new government faces a greater strategic challenge from Washington than from Beijing. US foreign policy has become increasingly unpredictable, just as China is growing more forceful.
Voters have returned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with a strong mandate, reaching for continuity rather than change. Australia faces a precarious global security picture and Donald Trump’s trade war is taking a toll on the economy. The International Monetary Fund has downgraded projected gross domestic product growth for this year to 1.6% from 2.1%, citing US tariffs, which it says could result in a $13 billion reduction in output.