It's possible that Covid has given us the much needed push to wean ourselves off China dependence. If so that's good thing. Australia has been substantially less affected by That Chinese exported virus than most of the rest of the world largely due to being a bloody big island, but also we have a tendency to be pretty independent. So apart from a few wingers we dealt with being isolated for weeks at a time reasonably well. What we didn't and will not deal with is China being the bully in the playground. We have a rather well developed "middle finger" salute to bullies, and there has now begun a lot of increased discussion with our Asian neighbours who also have a few axes to grind regarding China, especially their illegal incursions into the South China Sea.
We will undoubtedly need to absorb a bit of punishment regarding the ridiculous trade imbalance, but we will not be bending a knee any time soon. As it is the bastards own far too much of our country, and that is being addressed; investment is one thing, takeover something else again. By the way, NZ is doing well regarding overseas "investments" and so should we.
China's expansionism is nothing new, we all just thought they wanted bits of Africa and few third world [bleep] that had no strategic interest. But now we have a bunch of US Marines camped near Darwin, and it looks to increase. The US and Australia have always been great mates. We have all sorts of differences in the way things get done, but like any friends, we always end up arriving at the right solution to most problems. My experience with US soldiers during Vietnam was a positive one. We actually have a lot in common.
