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Canberra Today 13°/15° | Saturday, March 30, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Opinion / The Donald’s walk on the wild side

US President-elect Donald Trump’s telephone discussion with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen – and his subsequent defiantly truculent tweet:  “Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions in military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call” – could arguably be passed off as a moment of dodgy judgment by a foreign policy tyro were it not for the subsequent emergence of evidence that Trump staffers had prearranged the call from President Tsai.

Peter Phillips.
Peter Phillips.

The subsequent starchily-worded reminder from Beijing of the fundamental sanctity of the “One China” keystone of the US-China relationship, which has stood since the closing days of 1978, signals clearly that Beijing has no intention of cutting the newbie President-elect and his administration any further slack on this issue.

And this is where the worry for the rest of the world – and especially for Australia – lies. For the rather zany and certainly provocative Taiwan initiative launched by Trump insiders seem unlikely to be an isolated example of the Donald’s readiness to walk on the wild side of international relations.

Transcripts of Mr Trump’s telephone conversations with senior leaders of Pakistan and Kazakhstan are evidence enough of this. And the world will continue to watch with bated breath until the President-elect’s January 20 inauguration while awaiting announcements from Trump Tower of new appointments of senior figures in the incoming administration.

Meanwhile, down in our neck of the woods, the Malcolm Turnbull Coalition government waits apprehensively on confirmation – or rejection – by the Trump Administration of the arrangement forged with the outgoing Obama Administration to lance the ugly boil of the Manus and Nauru detention centres. The Coalition’s manifest jubilation at the legislative achievements of the final days of the 2016 parliamentary year could evaporate very quickly if President Trump repudiates the Turnbull-Obama detainee resettlement scheme.

And that’s before we reach the point at which the Turnbull government will encounter the tricky decision as to whether or not Australia might seek common cause with President Trump and his administration on vexed little issues such as Taiwan. And, as we move into the early days of 2017, the South China Sea? The Korean Peninsula? The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank?

Whatever, let’s resolve to have a nice relaxed time during the coming Christmas break – as President Trump and his band of policy innovators might just have some challenging surprises ready for Australia as we move into the New Year.

Interim president of the new ACT branch of the Australia China Business Council, Peter Phillips is a former diplomat at the Australian embassy in Beijing. He is an ANU Asian Studies graduate and Chinese linguist. Anyone interested in joining the council should email phillipsp1946@gmail.com

 

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