Moving beyond the ‘ping pong’ of Aukus and China

There has been much debate around Aukus, but the discussion needs to move beyond that. (Image: NZME)

Mon, 02 Sep 2024

You often hear we need a debate about Aukus, yet it is increasingly rare for a week to go by without Aukus or a future standoff between the US and China being mentioned. There is actually plenty of debate, but the problem is these debates are not really discussions so much as ping pong matches. In the context of the current debate around Aukus and China, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon or someone else in the Government says something hawkish, others respond to the serve, and another person lobs it back or lets the ping pong ball go t...

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