Australia is living in an abusive relationship. Leaders in Canberra are attempting to maintain close ties with a nation that is both Australia’s largest trade partner and its greatest security threat. Rather than stand up to the regional bully, Australia is willing to overlook the clear and present danger and adopt a soft, condoning approach.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese showcased this by holding a marathon diplomatic visit to China from July 12 to 18. While his private conversations with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang remain undisclosed, the extended trip portrays a clear message of its own.

Hillary Clinton tried the same thing with Russia and the “great reset.” It failed miserably. Will Albanese’s efforts bring peace and prosperity to the fraught relationship with China? History and prophecy both issue a resounding no.

To prove it, you need only look at the last six months. Australia-China relations were marred early this year by blatant intimidation tactics by the Chinese military, which came on the back of other serious concerns regarding Chinese expansion into the Indo-Pacific. The January 2025 Trumpet drew attention to security concerns stemming from Australia’s leaders selling its energy sector to China.

China has been sailing warships around Australia’s coastline and conducting live-fire drills. Flights had to be diverted, and despite earlier statements to the contrary, the government was forced to concede it was given zero warning by China. The event was humiliating for the Australian government. The unspoken truth is clear: Australia’s economic dependence on China robs it of its ability to offer any meaningful rebuke. As Chinese warships sailed defiantly around the continent, the sheepish government could only insist that China had every right to do so “in accordance with international law.”

This week’s love-fest—consisting of visits to the Great Wall of China and waving to cuddly panda bears—is more of the same spirit.

Not only did it highlight Australia’s compromised position, the visit exacerbated another trend threatening Australia’s national security: the growing divide between Albanese and United States President Donald Trump.

Some called the visit a “very polite” reset, but others disagree. Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Sky News, “My worry is … the optics of the prime minister going to China for five or six days, yet never having met the president of the United States, the optics of that are quite poor, I’m afraid.”

It is no secret that President Trump thinks little of the Australian prime minister and his cabinet. Six months into Trump’s presidency, the two leaders have not met. Instead, Albanese dispatched Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the beginning of July for her second meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Relations are tense. Much like in Europe, Trump is calling on Australia to up its defense spending to 3.5 percent while hitting it with a 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum.

Wong has attempted to smooth concerns, calling the U.S. “our closest ally and principal strategic partner.” But there’s no unsaying what has already been said. Before becoming prime minister, Albanese openly criticized Trump. And Australia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd scrambled to delete his own disparaging comments after Trump’s 2024 reelection.

Rudd had branded Trump as a “traitor to the West” and “the most destructive president in U.S. history.” True to form, in an interview with British commentator Nigel Farage, Trump called the ambassador “a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb.” This is more than tit for tat. The relationship is breaking. Without America, Australia is exposed. And its response is to look to its enemies for salvation.

The Australian government would do well to heed the sure word of Bible prophecy. God warns, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:5). God warns of exactly what will happen when we put our trust in men over God. Deuteronomy 28:15 states, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”

What do you suppose those curses will include? The chapter warns of God making the heaven as brass and earth as iron (verse 23). That sounds a lot like the Aussie outback. The cattle are butchered and crops are planted, but you don’t get to eat them (verse 31, 38-40).

Read through the chapter. See how many of those curses bare a striking similarity to what China is doing to Australia right now. And consider what would happen if the relationship with America deteriorates further. What happens if Australia throws itself further into enemy arms? Australia has just 27 million people. China has 1.4 billion. China has over 2 million military personnel alone and 500,000 reserves. In the words of Tucker Carlson on a recent trip to Brisbane, “Australia, watch yourself!”

A soft approach to China will not endear Australia to China or America. Albanese’s efforts to schmooze a belligerent China should ring alarm bells. So too should the deteriorating relationship with the U.S. But turning to any man while forgetting the God who made our nations great leads to terrible curses. That should be an alarm of far greater magnitude.

Australia’s heritage traces back to the British Empire. And that empire traces its roots to the tribe of Ephraim of house of Israel. These are the very people God is speaking to in Deuteronomy. He is warning the people of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and the United States. He is warning you and me.

But God also promises blessings for obedience. Verse 1 states, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.”

God promises national blessings. He promises blessed crops and surpluses. He promises not only protection from enemies, but that they would flee. But how few seize those promises. The promises are not just national—they are individual. God promises incredible things to anyone who will “observe and do.”

You can take action where the “great minds” of this world cannot. You have access to stunning prophecy—news in advance—that they do not comprehend, promises they refuse to seize, blessings they do not cherish.

If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to the free Trumpet magazine. Never has there been a more urgent need to see world events through the prism of Bible prophecy. Now is the time to trust in God, not men, for our salvation.