Australia's Crumbling China Consensus

As a longstanding ally of the US in Asia, Australia is presented with a particularly acute set of choices as China pushes ahead with its New Silk Road initiative. If, as many predict, the initiative succeeds in fulfilling the ambitious vision the Chinese leadership has for it, China will inevitably be in a stronger position to challenge the US role in Asia. That prospect has rocked Australias past consensus on how to deal with China and presented policy makers with difficult choices, writes Brendan Taylor.