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The West or Asia? King Charles’ visit spotlights Australia’s dilemma

The royal visit raises the ‘history v geography’ question again at a time when US-China rivalry piles growing pressure on the focus of Australia’s commitment.

An image of Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla projected onto the Sydney Opera House on Oct 18, as the royals arrived for a visit to Australia.

PHOTO: AFP

Jonathan Pearlman

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King Charles’

trip to Australia in October

– his first since assuming the British monarchy in 2022 – presented Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with a difficult choice.

It coincided with

President Prabowo Subianto’s inauguration

in Indonesia, a country that Mr Albanese has described as Australia’s “closest of partners”. Attending the event would be “a great occasion to cement once again the friendship between our two nations”, he had earlier told Mr Prabowo when the latter visited Canberra in August.

The West or Asia? King Charles’ visit spotlights Australia’s dilemma

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