Australia is in a quandary in the conflict between China and the USA

If you're confused about why Australia is preparing to wage an unwinnable war against its most important trading partner, which is in direct conflict with its own security and economic interests, there's a reason: Australia is more afraid of the US than of China.

As part of the relentless attack by the Australian media with its "war with China" propaganda, the state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has broadcast a radio report on newly revealed details of the nuclear submarine agreement within AUKUS, with two studio guests supporting the agreement, moderated by another enthusiastic supporter of the agreement. One of the guests, Australia's former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey, made some interesting remarks.

"This agreement chains us to the United States for decades to come. Is there a danger that we, as junior partners in this agreement, will have to do what the U.S. tells us to do when it comes to future war operations?"

asked moderator Patricia Karvelas. Hockey replied:

 "Well, we're already fully integrated into the U.S. military, and probably for more than a hundred years. We are the only country in the world that has fought side by side with the US in every major battle over the past hundred years. And the Aegis Combat System, an American system, is already in use in large parts of our navy. Our current Collins-class submarines use American torpedoes and in every important aspect, be it communications systems or integration, we already have American technology in use and are already integrated into American systems. So there's nothing new here in that regard."

That is true. Australia is inextricably intertwined with the U.S. military, and in practice is nothing more than another asset of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, to such an extent that the U.S. Navy reportedly plans to use Australia as an outpost with a fully developed submarine base for the full range of underwater activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

In an incredibly brazen admission that the Australian government has completely surrendered the sovereignty of the nation to a foreign power, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles said last year that the Australian armed forces have "moved far beyond interoperability, towards full integration into the US military" so that they can "work together seamlessly and efficiently".

Asked about the hundreds of billions of dollars this submarine program will cost Australians, Hockey replied that "the cost of failure would be far higher than the cost of those investments." He cited Australia's ports and shipping routes that could be attacked without the deterrent factor of the new submarines.

This claim is humbug. As the Australian television series "Utopia" humorously pointed out, China is supposedly the foreign power to be prevented from attacking Australia's ports and shipping routes. But since China is Australia's largest trading partner, it means we're effectively pouring out hundreds of billions of dollars to protect our trade with China from China.

In reality, Australia is not arming itself against China to protect itself from China. Australia is arming itself against China to protect itself from the United States. This dynamic was illustrated in all its grotesque glory by a 2019 presentation by US policy analyst John Mearsheimer at the Australian think tank Centre for Independent Studies. In his usual uncomfortable and blunt manner, Mearsheimer told his audience that the US will do anything to stop China's rise and prevent it from becoming the dominant power in the region. Australia will have to ally itself with the US in this fight, otherwise it will expose itself to the wrath of Washington.

"The question on the table is what Australian foreign policy should look like given the rise of China," Mearsheimer continued. "I'll tell you what I would suggest if I were Australian."

Mearsheimer noted that China will continue to grow economically, transforming that economic power into military power to dominate Asia, "just as the U.S. dominates the Western Hemisphere." He explained why he believes the US and its allies have every opportunity to prevent this event:

"So the question is what all this means for Australia. Well, you're certainly in a quandary. Everyone knows what a dilemma this is. By the way, Australia is not the only country in East Asia that finds itself in this predicament. These states trade an enormous amount with China, and this trade is very important for their prosperity, no question. In terms of security, they actually want to go along with the United States. It just makes a lot more sense, doesn't it? And you understand that security is more important than prosperity, because if you don't survive, you won't be able to have prosperity. (...) Now some people say there is an alternative: you can go with China instead of the US. There are two things I would like to say to you. First, if you go along with China, you should understand that you are the enemy of the United States. You then decide to become an enemy of the United States. Once again, we are talking about intense competition on regional security. Either you are with the US or you are against the USA. And trading extensively with China and being friends with China undermines the United States in this intense competition over regional security. From the U.S. point of view, you feed the beast. And that won't make the U.S. happy. And if the U.S. isn't happy, don't underestimate how evil the U.S. can be. Just ask Fidel Castro."

A nervous laughter from the audience underlined Mearsheimer's rebellious observations. It is known that the CIA has made numerous attempts to assassinate Castro.

So if you're confused about why Australia is preparing to wage an unwinnable war against its most important trading partner, which is in direct conflict with its own security and economic interests, that's why. It's because, ultimately, Australia is more afraid of the US than of China.

Contrary to Joe Hockey's claims, Australia is paying hundreds of billions of dollars to integrate even further into the US war machine because "the cost of failure would be far higher than the cost of these investments." In truth, these hundreds of billions of dollars are more like paying protection money to the mafia: we give the boss his share so he doesn't ruin our businesses and smash our kneecaps.

No one talks about it, although anyone who deals with U.S. foreign policy knows that it is exactly so. Australian propagandists keep making up stories about what China could do to us if we don't play along with Washington's aggressiveness against Beijing. But they never talk about what the U.S. would do to us if we didn't play along. That's because they don't want us to think too much about how we are forced by the world's most powerful government to prepare for a war of incomprehensible horror, under the tacit threat of inflicting even worse horrors on us if we refuse.

In the escalating conflict between China and the US, Australia is in a quandary. The US is responsible for the increasing hostilities between China and the Western power alliance in its desperate attempt to secure unipolar hegemony. The US is responsible for stoking fear in other countries that know what fate could befall them if they do not obey Washington's dictates. The US is responsible for creating a situation in which we are forced to choose whether to throw our sons and daughters into the gears of an unimaginably terrible war, while at the same time ruining our economy and risking nuclear Armageddon, or submitting to revenge and retaliation from a government far more violent and destructive than China.

This completely intolerable situation is why Australians are being aggressively bombarded with war propaganda about China right now. If we were allowed to obtain truthful information and think normal thoughts, no sane person would ever agree to all this.

But here we are, and it doesn't get better until people understand what's happening. We need to talk about it, and we need to help everyone understand the reality of the situation we are in now. As long as it does not free itself from the shackles of the US empire, humanity will not stand a chance in the end.

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