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Labor's shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says the world is "rethinking how best to work with the US" and Australia should follow the lead of the US and New Zealand by stepping up its investment in the Pacific as China expands assertiveness in the region.
Wong made the remarks in the US Studies Center on the subject of China and the policies of the United States. 19659002] Wong, who has just returned from Washington DC, noted the "compelling" events of the past few days Trump criticizing Nato for not spending enough on defense, his "mixed messages" in Britain and his summit with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Those "mixed messages" have also caused a split within the conservative section of the Coalition's backbench, with Craig Kelly softening the line on Putin and Russia's involvement in the Tony Abbott said that "Putin's got blood on his hands".
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Kelly, who remains under a fierce preselection for his New South Wales seat, said while he could sympathize with Anthony Maslin, in Perth, whose father was one of those children who died when he was a child, and he was important in the United States.
Maslin's three children, Mo, Evie and Otis, along with their grandfather, Nick Norris, who was traveling with them, were among 38 Australians killed when their Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down over Ukraine, four years ago this month. Subsequent investigations into the blame on Russian-backed separatist fighters, which Australia has accepted.
"I am sure that any father who has lost three kids would be absolutely devastated. "Kelly said. "So what is best for the future of the world – and it is best in my opinion that the leader of the United States and the leader of Russia at least have a good relationship
" And if that means some of the things that Russia has gotten away with, but I'm sorry. That is the price we have to pay, sometimes, to have good relations going forward.
"We can not fix things that happened in the past. We have to make sure that the relationship, between Russia and the USA, going forward [are] the best they can possibly be. "
Kelly's stance marks a shift from Abbott's, who told Sydney's radio 2GB on Wednesday afternoon that" Putin's
"My fundamental issue is that Vladimir Putin is a ruthless dictator and when the leader of the free world meets a ruthless dictator it should not be all smiles, "he said. "I'm not saying that he should not meet with Putin, because they're the two biggest nuclear powers in the world …"
Wong said the Trump's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal.
] While the Trump presidency was a particular "change point", Wong noted Australia was also disrupted by "more sustained and structural shifts in the world", including the changing relative economic weight of the US and China.
Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China has "evinced increasing assertiveness in pressing its interests", she said.
"One of the most important things in the world." if gnificant flashpoints of China's assertiveness, Australia has objected to its militarization of the South China Sea. Reports of China's navy challenging Australia's warships, which was rejected by the court of arbitration in The Hague.
Wong said Australia should approach China "with respect not It is not a democracy [and]
The Australian People Expected the Government to Protect "the nation's economic and strategic interests" goal, unlike the US,
Wong said:
Wong said, "Where are we going to be?" Australia and others in the region must ensure "the US recognizes that it is integral to the region" because "the world's only current global power [it] has a stabilizing role t o play in Asia "
Wong said that there was a" need for "in the region for greater infrastructure investment, particularly in the Pacific Islands.
She noted that in the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation Agreed to increase investment in infrastructure, and in New Zealand announced a new strategic international development fund to do the same [19659002"Iwelcometheseannouncementsasimportantstepstoaddressingthedeficitininfrastructureinvestmentintheregion"shesaid"TheAustraliangovernmentwoulddomuchtoconsidersimilarinitiatives"
China's Belt and Road Initiative is a multibillion-dollar infrastructure that is growing in Asia and the Pacific, increasing China's geo-strategic influence, and
In June, a new country in the United States of America.
Opic, the US government's development finance institution, currently has about $ 4bn across the Indo-Pacific region.
Opic's executive vice president, David Bohigian, recently visited his projects in Indonesia and will visit Thailand and Singapore to meet Japanese and Australian officials to discuss trilateral partnerships for investment in the region.
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