We are told the AUKUS ‘security partnership’ with the US and UK requires Australia to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to accompany AUKUS. They will operate mainly in the South China Sea, allegedly to deter China’s ‘expansionist’ goals.

Alarmed, I set out to discover those expansionist goals.

I assumed they were something other than Taiwan, because Beijing can attack Taiwan from the air rather than the sea.

That meant Beijing’s goals had to be some of those smaller islands in the South China Sea – the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, for example, little more than a stone........

© Pearls and Irritations