Australians would not want to follow the US into a war with Taiwan against China, a country that they feel more positive about than America, according to a poll published yesterday. And while Australians remain divided on the conflict in Iraq, two-thirds would still support pre-emptive strikes against other countries if they perceived a direct threat that was not being dealt with domestically.
The survey conducted by the independent think-tank the Lowy Institute for International Policy found 72 percent of respondents were opposed to supporting the US in any secessionist war between Taiwan and China.
Australia could be drawn into such a conflict thanks to the ANZUS (Australia New Zealand United States) Alliance under which Canberra would be expected to support Washington if China resorted to force over Taiwan.
However, the security alliance itself was highly regarded by Australians with 72 percent of the 1,000 interviewed saying they rated it as important.
On Iraq, where Prime Minister John Howard has deployed troops in support of the US-led invasion since the beginning of the conflict, respondents were split with 46 percent in favor of the war and 51 percent against.
The most surprising results were in relation to Australians' perceptions about traditional ally the US.
Only 58 percent of respondents said they had positive feelings about the country while 69 percent said they did about China. In addition, 68 percent said Canberra was led too strongly by Washington when it came to foreign policy.
Asked about 15 countries or regions, Australians rated New Zealand, Britain, Europe, Singapore and Japan as favorites "quite closely followed by China," the "Australians Speak 2005" survey noted.
"Of the countries and regions we asked about, the United States is more popular only than Indonesia, the Middle East, Iran and Iraq," it said.
Australians also rated Islamic fundamentalism as just as dangerous as US foreign policy.
Institute executive director Allan Gyngell said "there is no doubt that (US President) George Bush and his administration are having a harder time selling themselves to the rest of the world than some of their predecessors."
The survey also suggested that Australians had a "very relaxed view of China," he said.
"The reality is that if the crunch time came in Taiwan it would depend very heavily on whether it came because of an aggressive China movement ... that got the Australian people indignant or because of provocation on the Taiwan side of the Strait," he said.
"Australians see opportunity in China rather than being apprehensive about its growth," he said.
While 35 percent were worried about Beijing's rising power, 51 percent thought a free-trade deal with China would be good while only 34 percent thought the same about the free-trade pact with the US.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion