Only when it comes to iron ore does China have unavoidable dependence on Australia. A lot of the rest are more about the theatrics surrounding our responses to things done by China or Chinese individuals. Does Morrison have to say that Australian values are not for sale or surrender, as if that was the only alternative to hostility? Some of our most senior foreign policy experts say we don’t have to be this strident, or out in front. • Hamish McDonald is a former foreign editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and regional editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Source: The Guardian November 30, 2020 16:30 UTC