Did Australia emerge as the winners from the China trade war, or just move the battleground?

Just imagine being a prime minister. All that smiling and handshaking, having to say all the right things at the right time and glossing over years of indiscretions and even outright aggression. While it largely went unreported, the frenetic itinerary of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s latest foreign excursions involved some incredible diplomatic U-turns that neatly sum up the dilemma and danger we face in our region. After all the pomp and pageantry in Washington with a state dinner and meetings with US President Joe Biden, where the strategic alliance was celebrated with unusual gusto, Mr Albanese hotfooted it to Beijing…