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Speaker 1: I get greenland in our own backyard. We've got growing

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Speaker 1: action in the Pacific between America and China. This is

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Speaker 1: not breaking news, but the States is trying to renew

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Speaker 1: its strategic compact ties as we speak with places like

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Speaker 1: Palau and the Marshals, and the testimony in front of

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Speaker 1: the House Committee on Natural Resources suggests China is waging

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Speaker 1: a sustain This is America. China is waging a sustained

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Speaker 1: influence campaign aimed at weakening democratic institutions and strategic alignment

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Speaker 1: and the Pacific. Now, this is all good news for US,

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Speaker 1: as far as they can work out, given it felt

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Speaker 1: like America wasn't that overtly interested in the Pacific these

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Speaker 1: past few years. But Trump seems active everywhere, so the

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Speaker 1: more they're alert to what's going on. The better downside, though,

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Speaker 1: is there appears nothing we can do despite the efforts

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Speaker 1: of US and Australia. Too many Pacific nations these days

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Speaker 1: have gone to a degree with China, and that is

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Speaker 1: for the simple reason of money, in whatever form. Places

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Speaker 1: with no do tend to like large checks. And when

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Speaker 1: our moderate science checks got replaced with much bigger checks,

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Speaker 1: the writing I would have thought was on the wall

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Speaker 1: now the cooks as you're best and closest example. Of course,

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Speaker 1: we can withhold aid until we are blue in the face.

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Speaker 1: It is not going to make a jot of difference.

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Speaker 1: Enter Winston Peters, who I always thought had a good

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Speaker 1: advantage of experience in matters like this, and it has

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Speaker 1: and is making him a very able foreign minister. But

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Speaker 1: he's come on the show a number of times and

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Speaker 1: argued the value of friendship. As I pointed out the

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Speaker 1: cold hard reality of Chinese money and promises, he counters

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Speaker 1: with what seems to be this genuine belief that friendship

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Speaker 1: actually matters. Now I fear that's an old man talking.

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Speaker 1: Is view muddled or muddied by a bygone era and

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Speaker 1: some hope and some good vibes. It'll be nice to

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Speaker 1: think friendship was a thing, but it doesn't beat dollars.

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Speaker 1: I can tell you that some of the Pacific We'll

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Speaker 1: still say it could have been different if we in

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Speaker 1: Australia had been more generous over the years. But I

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Speaker 1: don't believe that for a minute. Either. China are here

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Speaker 1: and they're shopping. The upside is America at last is

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Speaker 1: not just woken up. But they might just be awaken,

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Speaker 1: alarmed enough to do something about it. For more from

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Speaker 1: the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks that'd

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Speaker 1: be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio