There were two major events last week - Donald Trump's visit to China and the Federal budget - and from a national security perspective both were something of an anticlimax, which is probably not a bad thing. The Defence budget continues to track upwards and is a 6% increase over the previous year, which looks to be well ahead of inflation. The Trump China visit doesn't seem to have achieved anything in particular, contrary to the boasts of the US President.

Taiwan remains a potential flashpoint and it will be interesting to see if the US goes ahead with a $14 billion arms sale. If that does not happen in the next couple of months that will be evidence of a shift in the dynamic. Then some words about satellite technology and how Iran is probably accessing commercial services from China.

Finally some thoughts about lagging US SSN production numbers and why our government says everything is fine when publicly available information shows otherwise. Also, why did Australia rush to supply military aid to the UAE? Could there be a connection with retired ADF and AFP personnel making a lot of tax free money in that country?

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