`Wrong place at the wrong time´: how the US-China trade war is putting the squeeze on Australia
(The Guardian China)

Donald Trump´s trade war may force Australia to choose between democracy and profitsWhen Canberra´s finest strategic thinkers released a white paper in 2012 about Australia´s place in the Asia-Pacific region, the country´s choices seemed obvious. There was even a suggestion that everything was written in the stars. Australia, the paper said, was in the `right place at the right time` to take advantage of the massive social and economic changes sweeping the continent to the north, led by China. Relations with the US would remain important but there was no doubt where the future lay.Seven years on, things are starting to look much more complicated. As Scott Morrison sits down to a state dinner in the White House on Saturday night he has, in the words of one expert, a lot of hard decisions to make. Related: Donald Trump suggests China `a threat to the world` while praising Scott Morrison as a `man of titanium` The optimism of 2011 is over. Australia has some hard decisions to make. Continue reading...