Australia in a no-win situation if Taiwan crisis escalates johnmenadue.com/63312-2/ By Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University.
"And where would Australia stand? We want America to keep leading in Asia, so it seems obvious that we should encourage it to fight for Taiwan. But again, it is not that simple. We gain nothing by urging America to fight a war it will not win with or without our support.
"While we might feel we would have to join the fight to preserve the ANZUS alliance, such a war would be fatal to America’s position in Asia, and hence to the alliance itself anyway.
"If the Taiwan issue escalates to the point that Joe Biden faces his terrible choice, then Australia stands to lose its ally whether we urge him to fight and chose to fight ourselves, or not.
"That being so, our best interests would be served by urging him to be cautious, and by being cautious ourselves."
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