Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defense Minister Peter Dutton are trying to outdo Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Prime Minister Boris Johnson as war-mongering buffoons. On Anzac Day, April 25, (the Australian-New Zealand Memorial Day) Dutton compared China and Russia to Nazi Germany and militarist Japan in the 1930s and called for preparing for war: “We’re in a period very similar to the 1930s now – that’s the sober reality of the intelligence we receive.” He added that “to prepare for peace we must prepare for war,” and ranted about the build-up of the Australian military and cooperation with the U.S. and the British to prepare for war.
U.S. National Security Council Asia czar Kurt Campbell visited the Solomon Islands on April 22, following a security agreement signed between the Solomon Islands and China, which a White House statement described as a “significant concern” and that the U.S. would “respond accordingly” to any perceived Chinese “threat.” Morrison went further on Anzac Day: “This is a shared concern, not just Australia, but with regional governments, working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States. I share the same red line with the U.S., when it comes to these issues.”
