David Llewellyn-Smith's article title is the revealing, "Keating Demands Chinese Takeover of Australia." Keating has been vocal criticising the AUKUS defence pact. He sees the Labor government as "selling out." Selling out to China? No, of course not, to the dreaded US and UK of course. Taiwan, is he says, "Chinese real estate", and "Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest." Well see what happens to Western industry and everything once the advanced chip factories are controlled by the CCP. And he seems to believe, like a good Leftist that China is a playful pussy cat, and not a military threat.
Of course, Southeast Asia, and Japan disagree, but Keating does not consider this.
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/08/keating-demands-chinese-takeover-of-australia/
"He's the orator of the century:
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has lashed out at the current government, once again criticising the endlessly-debated AUKUS defence pact. Appearing on the ABC's 7.30 program last night, Keating called the Albanese government a "sellout", declaring: "In defence and foreign policy, this is not a Labor government. This is a party which has adopted the defence and foreign policies of the Morrison Liberal government." Joining AUKUS makes Australia a target for aggression, Keating argued, due to the implicit opposition to China's growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Discussing China's designs on Taiwan, the 80-year-old said the island was "Chinese real estate", adding: "Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest".
Guardian Australia quotes numerous eye-catching parts of the interview, including: "What AUKUS is about in the American mind is turning [Australia into suckers], locking us up for 40 years with American bases all around … not Australian bases. So AUKUS is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean, what's happened … is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States." Plus: "If we didn't have an aggressive ally like the United States — aggressive to others in the region — there'd be nobody attacking Australia. We are better left alone than we are being 'protected' by an aggressive power like the United States. Australia is capable of defending itself."