So as we heard yesterday, China's President Xi Jinping has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan, in his annual New Year's Eve speech in Beijing. 

Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said, "the reunification of our motherland, and trend of the times, is unstoppable." 

The military drills were amongst the biggest ever seen, and they came after the United State gave Taiwan $11 billion to help with their defence funding, and China took umbrage. 

Several governments, though, have come out and criticised China's drills this week - including the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, the European Union, and the United States. 

We however, said nothing. 

Last February, when China did live firing drills in the straits of Taiwan, we were all over it! Winston Peters was saying all sorts of things, but today? Nothing. 

Whether it's because we're all on holiday, or whether we're now playing a game of sitting on the fence - whatever. Our silence was deafening. 

Our love of China trade is keeping our mouths shut. 

So what evolved was a debate last year on whether China is a threat or a friend to the South Pacific, and I was on the side of threat, along with former MPs Cam Calder and Defence Minister Wayne Mapp. 

With China using its wallet to carry favour in the South Pacific, especially in the Cook Islands, we had to consider this as being threatening - and it is. 

Against its wisdom, South Pacific academics pointed out that China has never been guilty of colonising aggressively in the Pacific, they argued China is our friend. 

We argued back by saying, "so far..."

But threats, of course, involve the future. Not what happened in the past. 

So what happened on New Year's Day in China included boasts about their technological advancements, and scenes from their massive military parade last year, and it left me in no doubt that China is getting more and more confident in throwing its weight around in our neck of the woods. 

But we're saying nothing. 

A time is coming, and it may be soon, that we're going to have to get off the fence and start standing with our allies. 

And on that, China's new beef tariffs appear not to affect us, because to affect us we'd have to double our output, and with all the will of the world are we going to double our output? No. 

But Australia, who are actively standing against China, are going to be hit by about a billion dollars. It's a billion dollar hit from those tariffs for Australia. 

For us? Nothing. 

Think that's a coincidence?

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