A week of awkward regional diplomacy for Australia
Last week was a busy time in Australia’s regional diplomacy. On Aug 28 in Tonga, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won agreement from Australia’s small Pacific Island neighbours to
- by autobot
- Sept. 3, 2024
- Source article
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Last week was a busy time in Australia’s regional diplomacy. On Aug 28 in Tonga, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won agreement from Australia’s small Pacific Island neighbours to Then, a day later in Jakarta, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles signed a new Defence Cooperation Agreement designed to strengthen security ties with Australia’s other close neighbour, Indonesia. Both initiatives are squarely aimed at what has become the primary objective, and increasingly the only objective, of Australia’s regional diplomacy. They are about resisting the Chinese challenge to America’s place as the leading power in Asia, which Canberra regards as simply essential to Australia’s future. But, in each case, the initiatives themselves and the atmospherics surrounding them only served to highlight the deep problems with this approach to the profound strategic transformation now under way in Asia.