A new poll has found Australians support the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, despite critics’ warnings of the huge price tag and concerns about US stability. The consistent message from politicians and sections of the media is that China’s “threat” to national security makes the deal essential. But is that threat real?

Wanning Sun, Crikey columnist and deputy director of the UTS Australia-China Relations Institute, joins the podcast to explain the impact AUKUS has on Australia’s relationship with China and our reputation in the Asia-Pacific region. While she says Labor is doing a good job of managing competing Chinese and American interests, Sun fears with AUKUS that Australia has given up its power — and become a target.

Read more:

• AUKUS is finding public support despite its many problems. Why?
• Compromise, not a zero-sum game, has delivered results for Trump and Xi — for now
• Australia’s strategy of denial in engaging with its ‘Pacific family’
• America wants to sell China as a threat. Should Australia buy it?
• $800 million AUKUS handout to the US broke internal rules — as bureaucrats rushed to pay Trump

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