When it comes to the Western strategy to contain Chinese expansionism in the Pacific it is It is essential to mention Australia. It is a continent-island which, thanks to its size and geographical location, plays a crucial role in one of the most turbulent chessboards in the world.
The network of alliances
It is a country of approximately 7.5 square kilometers populated by just over 26 million people. It’s part of the Commonwealth and major Western military alliances, as well as the electronic surveillance and intelligence alliance “Five eyes”. The latter includes all Anglo-Saxon nations: USA, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia itself. Equally important is Canberra’s participation in the “Quad”the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue” (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue), which records the presence of the United States, Japan and the Indian Federation. Also in this case the main intent is containment of communist China.
Already an object of desire of the Japanese empire in the Second World War, the Land of Kangaroos has always been a supporting column of Western interests and values in the Indo-Pacific, even after its formal separation from the United Kingdom of which it was first a colony and then Dominion for many decades.
Relations with Beijing
Does all this mean that the West can sleep soundly while continuing to rely on Australian support in the area? In reality the situation is a little more complicated. As has happened in many other cases thanks to globalization, Australia has intense economic relations with Beijingwhich is Canberra’s largest trading partner, with a turnover exceeding 300 billion Australian dollars per year.
While previous conservative governments had favored military alliances with Western nations, the new Labor prime minister (of Italian origin) Anthony Albanese seems more sensitive to commercial aspects, and therefore more attentive to Don’t compromise relationships with the Dragon.
Not only that. In the former British colony there lives a very large community of Chinese origin: one and a half million people, which means 5.5 percent of the population. Obviously there is a fear that, with such numbers, many Chinese-Australians may, in the event of tensions, feel the call of the mother country.
And it’s still not enough. Australia, although not formally recognizing Taiwan, has always maintained excellent relations with the island that Beijing wants to annex. In fact, it supplies Taipei with over 80 percent of its energy needs. This is very important since Taiwan does not have its own energy sources. It goes without saying that such a situation is very unwelcome a Xi Jinping and its management team.
Added to all this is an intense presence of Chinese students in Australian universitieswhile the emigration of citizens of the People’s Republic to Australia is growing.
He talked about this too Joe Biden in the recent meeting of “Quad” held in the USA, with the participation of the Indian Narendra Modiof Japanese Fumio Kishida and of the same Anthony Albanese. However, given the American political chaos and the upcoming presidential elections, it is doubtful whether Biden has obtained precise reassurances from the Australian Labor Prime Minister.
