Australian Voters Face a Choice: America or China?
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Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The only international issue toraise a ripple in Australia’s election campaign has been Syria,which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tried to exploit to highlightopponent Tony Abbott’s inexperience in world affairs. That’sunfortunate, because the most critical choice facing Australianson Sept. 7 isn’t between Rudd and Abbott. It’s between the U.S.and China.
Nothing matters more to Australia’s long-term future thanmanaging this increasingly difficult balancing act between theworld’s two strongest states. If Abbott wins -- and the pollsare unanimous that he will -- how he navigates betweenAustralia’s strongest ally and its biggest trading partner willdetermine the fate of his government and his country.