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Trump’s Volatility in Asia Distresses a Longtime U.S. Ally: Australia
New York Times
DARWIN, Australia — South Korea, Japan and the United States have grown accustomed to North Korea’s diatribes, but Pyongyang recently threatened a new target with a nuclear strike: Australia.
During a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to Sydney, the North warned Australia to think twice about “blindly and zealously toeing the U.S. line” and acting as “a shock brigade of the U.S. master.”
Australian and American troops have fought side by side in every major conflict since World War I, and there are few militaries in the world with closer relations: 1,250 United States Marines recently arrived in Darwin for six months of joint exercises; the two countries share intelligence from land, sea and even outer space; and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is slated to meet President Trump on Thursday on an aircraft carrier in New York.
But North Korea’s threat against the country, far-fetched as it might seem, is an example of how Australia’s most important military alliance faces a new challenge: the risk that President Trump will draw the nation into a conflict or other unexpected crisis that destabilizes the region, angers its trading partners or forces it to side with either the United States or China.