As geopolitical uncertainty and US tariffs reset global trade relations, both sides ‘have to work together’, Australian business council says.

China’s gradual incremental power projection in Australian waters is a calculated gray zone strategy to make the Australian state and public anxious about the Chinese strategic objectives. While these naval activities remain legal under international law, they test Australia’s ability to defend its sovereignty amid shifting global power dynamics.

The US alliance will endure despite Trump’s efforts to upend the global order. But whoever wins the May 3 election must boost engagement with regional partners.

At the heart of this shift is the Philippines, which faces persistent Chinese incursions into its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). General Romeo Brawner Jr., head of the Philippines' Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported an average of 286 Chinese vessels operating daily last year within the EEZ, up from 190 in 2021. ​

Australia’s conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton is a former police detective who gained a reputation during his years in government for his tough stance on border security and as a vocal critic of China.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fight for his job in a tightly contested election campaign expected to be dominated by cost-of-living concerns, the country’s relationship with China and jitters over the fast-changing global order under US President Donald Trump.

The embassy has rejected claims that a Chinese vessel cruising along Australia’s southern coast is a “spy ship”, describing media reports as “smearing”.

Trade and diplomatic relations between Australia and China plumbed new depths in 2020 after the previous conservative Australian government demanded an international inquiry into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing barred ...

Imposing tariffs against China for geopolitical reasons is one thing. Liberation Day tariffs against allied and friendly countries is another. Anthony Albanese says the tariffs are not the “act of a friend”.

The U.S. president’s indiscriminate tariff offensive has resolved a long-running debate about where the country’s future lies.