President Joe Biden has been in the news for some embarrassing stumbles on his way up the stairs of Air Force One, but he has been much more surefooted in reasserting US supremacy on the global stage.
And it’s not just China he’s calling out. Russia is firmly back at the top of the enemies list — and allies in the UK and Australia have joined the chorus.
The new occupant of the White House is showing a stark contrast with his Manchurian candidate predecessor. Biden reacted strongly to reports that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2020 election and went so far as to call President Vladimir Putin “a killer”.
Not surprisingly, the Kremlin reacted with outrage and veiled threats claiming relations between the two superpowers were now “very bad”.
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Today, the UK government will publish a major shakeup of defence priorities and Russia is very much in its sights. The big story leaked over the weekend was that SAS soldiers and other special forces units will join MI6 to start disrupting Russian meddling around the world.
And, in classic Cold War rhetoric, ASIO last week revealed it had uncovered a “nest of spies” from Russia. Even though the Russians appeared to have been kicked out of the country late last year, it was a reminder that Russian spies are “still the best equipped and experienced in the world” and Australia is being targeted more.
It was also a clear message that Australia is joining its allies in the US and UK in fighting back against the Russian threat in what some see as a new Cold War. Others point out the old one never really went away.
This rebalancing of superpowers comes at a delicate time for the European Union which is in its most precarious position since the global financial crisis. The absolute botching of the COVID vaccine rollout has not only earned new enemies from Britain to Australia, but has also fractured the fragile European alliance from within.
But Washington is certainly still concerned about China too. This was made clear at the extraordinarily frosty US-China summit in Alaska on Friday. US officials made good on their promise earlier in the week to have Australia’s back, angering Chinese officials by warning against continued economic coercion of American allies.
Back in Canberra, Australian businesses were once again being warned that they were vulnerable to Chinese infiltration. There are reports China is targeting commercial data, particularly to discover how local businesses are getting around the current trade bans.
In the past Australian businesses have tended to ignore such warnings, preferring profit over the national interest, but with a new sheriff in the White House it’s clear the times are changing. Or at least going back to where they were before.
Overnight, we also had a reminder that another foe is still high on the threat list. Iran reportedly threatened the US army post of Fort McNair in the nation’s capital, in what could have been a suicide bombing.
The new president will have to stay on his toes and — in the case of the stairs — hopefully on his feet as well.
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Oh for heavens sake! The Yanks have our back! They have our back selling barley to China we used to sell them, they have our back selling crayfish to China we used to sell them, they have our back selling wine to China we used to sell them.
Come. In. Sucker.
The aspirational Australian body bags are probably even made in China..
Not to mention they have our fuel supply somewhere too, if only Angus would tell us where…..
I do worry the world is talking it’s way into yet another global conflict. Have we learnt nothing? I suspect we haven’t. I am no fan of the CCP, I find them corrupt, brutal and elitist, however, the question I ask of all who seek its immediate ousting is ‘What will replace it to govern 1.5 billion people, nuclear weapons and an industrial complex the world is dependant upon?’
We’ve tried regime change before, Iraq and Libya come to mind. They’ve both ends well. Russian also shook off its alleged communist colours to go n and become a plutocracy owned and governed by brutal oligarchs.
What do want for China?
—I am no fan of the CCP, I find them corrupt, brutal and elitist, etc etc etc
What the rest of the world thinks about the CPC is irrelevant. China fought a bloody civil war to remove the corrupt US-backed Kuomintang and install its current system of government. Under the ICCPR, China has the right to determine their political system, which they have done. The CPC is no more “corrupt, brutal or elitist” than any Government in the West, particularly the US, which has a long history of foreign interference, invasion of other countries, economic coercion (sanctions), corruption and virtually everything they accuse China of.
Regime change? The overwhelming majority of Chinese citizens support their Government overall which is all that matters. They know that their Government is far from perfect but still believe that their Government does a good job. China is a stable, peaceful, hard working Socialist society with ever increasing prosperity, following a few bad decades after the Civil War, with Mao at the Helm. The Chinese people are proud of the rise of China after 100 years of humiliation and are not predisposed to kowtow to the West.
The recent meeting in Alaska has shown that China will not accept being dictated to by the US. China and Russia also have very close relations which also needs to be considered. Like most things, you always need to look at both sides of the story as the truth is normally in the middle.
In effect, the West needs to learn to treat China as an equal and accept that China will change if, as and when it suits China.
The Director General went to some pains to not identify the source of the so-called “nest of spies.” Where did you get the information it was Russia?
Of course it will. We are already in the U.S. saddle bag even though we are not at all clear where the horse is going, how or to what particular end. Probably revisting Custer’s last stand, Vietnam, the Afghanistan debacle, the Iraq make-over on the US model, the Lybia catastrophe – so nothing to worry about, then.
We won’t lead any charge.
Australia will be the place where the brawl will take place.
One of them will claim that their sovereign interests in Aust. are being threatened and act to “protect” their interests.
The war will likely be “conventional” as an all out Nuke situation would be mutual destruction.
Australia is an ideal location with a big land mass sparsely populated (sort of Terra Nullis) and semi developed with some infrastructure. Not enough Military equipment or Forces to be anything more than a nuisance.
Then whoever gets the upper hand will posses Australia and the looser will go home and have a rethink while hiding under their nuclear umbrella.