Both Labor and the Coalition are deepening Australia’s alignment with the United States, even as doubts grow about AUKUS, the rules-based order and the risks of being drawn into a US-China conflict.

Australia, at least in American and Chinese minds, is a small outpost of the US empire. The Trump administration has, in its own way, put that on record.

As Donald Trump prepares to meet Xi Jinping this coming week, significant nuances in the foreign defence policies of the government and the opposition are emerging. They are prompted by the Trump whirlwind and the continuing growth of the military and economic power Xi wields.

The most surprising and significant policy commitment is the government’s.

It might fairly be said that the Albanese government has fundamentally embraced the defence and foreign policies of Scott Morrison and his Coalition predecessors. While some of the Coalition’s most influential shadow ministers are pinpointing the changes that Trump and Xi have delivered and are trying to think seriously about the changes to US alliance practices that Trump I and II and Joe Biden have brought.

The government must surely be seen in Beijing and Washington now as a firm and unwavering US ally, after some early and important work to restore the trade relationship with China. And the US bases in Australia are a reliable part of the US network that surrounds and seeks to contain China.

The best recent outline of Labor’s defence policies came from Richard Marles, and they were historically the most........

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