Ep. 59: Malabar and an emerging balancing coalition; Senator Abetz and loyalty tests; diplomacy and quarantine
b"This week\\u2019s episode begins with a focus on recent events in Australia\\u2019s defence policy space, which both Allan and Darren see as trending towards the formation of a balancing coalition in the region. Australia will join the US, Japan and India in next month\\u2019s Malabar exercises, which was announced while Defence Minister Linda Reynolds was in Tokyo to meet with her counterpart. Meanwhile, Australia will no longer send a naval ship to the Middle East \\u2013 signalling the conclusion of a decades-long focus on that region.\\nThe conversation then turns to a controversial hearing in the Senate, during which Senator Eric Abetz asked three witnesses, all Australians of Chinese heritage, to denounce the Chinese Communist Party unconditionally. Both Allan and Darren explain why they were deeply troubled by this line of questioning, and Darren describes his recent co-authored piece that argues Abetz\\u2019s actions actually harmed Australia\\u2019s national security. The episode also raises interesting and thorny questions regarding whether and how every Australian should intervene in public debates.\\nFinally, given that Ministerial visits, like those to Japan recently made by the Foreign and Defence Ministers, currently come at the cost of 14-days quarantine upon returning home, what does this say about the future of diplomacy?\\nWe thank AIIA intern Mitchell McIntosh for his help with research and audio editing and Rory Stenning for composing our theme music.\\nRelevant Links\\nSenator Linda Reynolds and Senator Marise Payne, \\u201cAustralia to participate in Exercise Malabar 2020\\u201d, Media Release: 19 October 2020: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/media-releases/australia-participate-exercise-malabar-2020\\n\\u201c2020 Japan-Australia Defense Ministers Kishi/Reynolds Joint Statement on Advancing Defence Cooperation\\u201d, 19 October 2020: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/statements/2020-japan-australia-defense-ministers-kishireynolds-joint-statement\\nSenator Linda Reynolds, \\u201cChanges to the ADF's naval presence in the Middle East\\u201d, Media Release, 23 October 2020: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/media-releases/changes-adfs-naval-presence-middle-east\\nStephen Dziedzic and Andrew Greene, \\u201cAustralia no longer sending Navy to the Middle East, shifts focus to Asia-Pacific, China\\u201d, ABC News, 23 October 2020: https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-23/australia-will-stop-sending-navy-to-middle-east-to-shift-focus/12808118\\nOsmond Chiu, \\u201cI was born in Australia. Why do I need to renounce the Chinese Communist Party?\\u201d, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 October 2020: https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-was-born-in-australia-why-do-i-need-to-renounce-the-chinese-communist-party-20201014-p5655j.html\\nYun Jiang, \\u201cSenator Abetz\\u2019s loyalty test\\u201d, Inside Story, 20 October 2020: https://insidestory.org.au/senator-abetzs-loyalty-test/\\nNatasha Kassam and Darren Lim, \\u201cLoyalty tests make Australia weaker, not stronger\\u201d Lowy Interpreter, 21 October 2020: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/loyalty-tests-make-australia-weaker-not-stronger\\nAustralian Institute of International Affairs, \\u201cThe World in 2021: Allan Gyngell and Dennis Richardson in Conversation\\u201d, 22 October 2020: https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australian-outlook/?filter[]=video (forthcoming)\\nGraeme Dobell, \\u201cWhat\\u2019s worth 14 days\\u2019 quarantine for Australia\\u2019s foreign minister?\\u201d The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 19 October 2020: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/whats-worth-14-days-quarantine-for-australias-foreign-minister/\\nAustralian Institute of International Affairs, contact details: https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/contact-us/\\nAnne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends (Goodreads page): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55772332-twilight-of-democracy\\nFrancis Fukuyama, \\u201cLiberalism and its discontents: The challenges from the left and the right\\u201d, American Purpose, 5 October 2020: https:/"