Readers of this blog (surely none-ed.) will know that I have an affection for Chinese history, it being long and broad and full of people and events to recommend it. It is hard not to admire the fact that China has been around for over 2500 years, more if you count the various iterations that occurred before that time.

So it is with sadness that I witness the current dismal state of affairs between Australia and China. Australia is not blameless in its conduct over the years, having a breed of politician who is inclined to be both tin-eared and indiscreet. This country also has a close military relationship with the United States, a pact which has tended to cast us in the light of a kind of Antipodean sheriff. Once again, some leaders in Canberra have been guilty, in both word and deed, of encouraging this absurd fantasy. It does not play well in the wider world.

Still the Chinese leadership has it faults too, being somewhat thin-skinned and inclined to want its own way at all times. Decades of relentless authoritarianism have not created a mindset conducive to compromise or negotiation. Petty bullying over trifles is the order of the day. It is hard to see how this will play out.

If China wants to loosen the ANZUS alliance then it is going about it the wrong way. Moreover, Australia is already in talks with Japan over closer defence ties and I can only see this trend accelerating with other regional states who fear the same treatment. It seems counter-productive for a country that wants to dominate its region.

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey is a Chinese idiom that may or may not be apt in this case. But if Australia turns out to be the chicken, then who might the monkey be?