There is a long list of loud objections to the project. But how many of them really stand up to scrutiny?

A powerful presence in the underwater environment is core to Australia’s future defence and it can be delivered.

“There are many operational elements and systems needing refinement to conduct complex littoral operations well,” [Ross Babbage] said by email Wednesday. “It is best to sort those things and conduct much of the necessary training in safe and well understood areas possessing advanced instrumented ranges and other excellent facilities.”

The book argues that a robust military strategy is essential for countering Beijing’s aggression. Pottinger and his team map out a workable military strategy for Taiwan, the United States, Japan, Australia, and Europe to pursue collectively, urging quick adoption to avert a devastating war.

Washington, DC, August 15, 2020 – Given the rapid pace of change in Asia during the last 20 years, assessing China’s longer-term trajectory represents a huge challenge for allied security planners.  Despite the geostrategic disruptions of the 21st century thus far, Western policymakers continue to rely upon the same periodic defense assessment principles that were practiced during the relatively stable Cold War period.  The policies that result must frequently be revised, often at great cost, in the face of frequent economic, political, and technological upheavals in Asia.

Australia is not unique in that China is conducting a far-reaching campaign to ­influence and shape opinion in the West. As Ross Babbage, a former Office of National Assessments analyst and senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment in Washington says, we have not seen this type of activity since the Cold War. In dealing with it, while also growing the Australia-China trade relationship, the Turnbull government is treading a fine line in a measured, methodical way.