Power Shift: Australia's future between Washington and Beijing

On 8th March is the centenary of international women's day. There was a morning tea earlier today for VIPs and as per tradition, Sydney Girls prefects were invited. Next Tuesday, women in 18 countries around the world will participate in bridge climbs and crossing, in Australia, it'll be on the Harbour Bridge. The teacher needs 60 girls to participate in the event.


Last assembly it was a performance on cello, the time before that it was the ensemble. I almost thought Sydney Girls is entirely classically inclined. Today a girl in my English class, Tina, sang "The Voice Within" and accompanied herself on the piano. Her voice was amazing, so strong and so penetrating. Those chills I talked about on Wednesday? I got them when listening to her. It's so unexpected to hear such a strong and penetrating voice from her because she's a shortish chubbyish Asian girl and she's really cheery.

The applause lasted a lot longer than usual after her performance. Usually everyone just claps more enthusiastically if we like the performance, but it's the first time I've seen a spontaneous sustained applause in real life. Everyone kept clapping and clapping and she deserved every second of it.

Her voice was amazing, it sounds good when she's singing softly, but when she gets to the chorus and really lets it out it sounds incredible. She must have had training, it sounds so professional and you would expect to hear that from a great singer singing an inspirational song. I listened to the original, and in my humble opinion, she sounded better than Christina Aguilera. Her piano playing was perfect too.

I've finished reading a quarterly essay (that makes me sound so nerdy) in the library. The title is "Power Shift: Australia's future between Washington and Beijing" and it's maybe a hundred pages, like a thin book. It discusses how China's growth will affect the balance of power in the Asian region, where Australia is situated. China has grown immensely and will definitely continue to grow. It's already the second largest economy in the world after USA and catching up fast. At present, USA is the primary power in Asia, and indeed the world, but as China grows, it will want to have more influence in Asia, which the US will definitely not like.

Australia has historically had a close political and military relationship with USA, looking to it for protection as the sole western country in Asia. More recently, we have a vital economic bond with China, one we can not afford to lose. Therefore, Australia can't fully side with one or the other without paying an immense price, and Australia has to play a delicate balancing act. This essay looks at the possible options Australia, China and USA have, what consequences each will have on each country and in the Asian region.

I didn't think it could be so interesting, but it is. I think I understand a lot more about the relationship between the three countries now. Wants and motives and actions and consequences of each country is so interesting. I find myself being more interested in international affairs, especially those concerning China. In Economics class the teacher always talks about how China is such an economic miracle.

Random: Our Chemistry teacher told us today that the dot on top of the i and j is called a tittle. quote/ I know what the dot on top of i and j are called but I don't know what the line dividing metals and non-metals in the periodic table is called.