James Laurenceson

2 months ago | theconversation.com | James Laurenceson

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have both committed to stripping a Chinese company, Landbridge, of the lease to operate Darwin Port. Landbridge paid A$506 million for the 99-year lease from the Northern Territory government in October 2015. In Australia’s political system, democratically elected representatives like Albanese and Dutton have the power to make such decisions.

2 months ago | openforum.com.au | James Laurenceson

‘Not … a friendly act’. ‘A very bad day for our relationship with the United States’. ‘Not how allies should treat one another’. Such were the descriptors that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his ministers used to announce that the United States had hit local steel and aluminium producers with 25 per cent tariffs on 12 March 2025. On the explanation that Washington had provided — that Australian steel and aluminium was a threat to US national security — the replies were just as blunt.

2 months ago | johnmenadue.com | James Laurenceson

The view that AUKUS is a justified response to Chinas actions ignores Chinas achievements and future ambitions. It also ignores Chinas legitimate security fears. When Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson, and Joe Biden jointly announced the creation of the AUKUS alignment nearly a month ago, China wasnt mentioned.

2 months ago | johnmenadue.com | James Laurenceson

Canberra sees any repercussions for ‘standing up to China’ as a badge of honour. But the US is grabbing our markets one after another it’s now LNG. Earlier this month, with great fanfare, Washington, London, and Canberra announced the AUKUS pact: a security arrangement meant to confront China. The deal was hailed as a historic opportunity by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to protect shared values and promote security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

2 months ago | johnmenadue.com | James Laurenceson

Great power competition in the Asia-Pacific region has been building for years. But COVID-19 has turbo-charged the shifts taking place and China is finishing 2020 in a significantly stronger position compared with the US than when the year started. Meanwhile, Canberras relations with Beijingcontinue to deteriorateand theres little reason to be optimistic that a sudden, positive turnaround will be seen in 2021.