Sponsored by the Worldwide Support for Development (WSD)

Virtual (Zoom)

The Pacific Forum, in cooperation with the Worldwide Support for Development (WSD), hosted an off-the-record “Conversation with Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott” on Friday, October 22 at 2:30 PM HST. The “Conversation” was moderated by Pacific Forum WSD-Handa Chair Ralph Cossa.

The two discussed US-Australia and broader Indo-Pacific alliance relationships and partnerships, the new Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) security arrangement, and how best to deal with the growing challenge posed by China both to the region in general and to Taiwan in particular. Former Prime Minister Abbott’s recent remarks at the Yushan Forum in Taipei were viewed by many as insightful and thought-provoking and by a Chinese government spokesman as a “despicable and insane performance [which] fully exposed his hideous anti-China features.”