What is the Trump administration's strategy in the Indo-Pacific? How will the forthcoming US National Defense Strategy shape America’s posture in Asia? What are the opportunities and risks for Australia as strategic competition intensifies both within and beyond the First Island Chain? To what extent is Australia’s policy architecture towards Taiwan still fit-for-purpose amid an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific region?

To unpack these issues, the United States Studies Centre held a high-level briefing with some of Australia’s leading foreign policy voices at Parliament House.

Opening remarks

Opening remarks were provided by former chair of the Australia-United States Parliamentary Friendship Group, Luke Gosling OAM, MP and Vice Chair of the Australia-United States Parliamentary Friendship Group, Mrs Melissa McIntosh MP.

Panel 1: Does President Trump have a grand strategy?

Despite labelling the Indo-Pacific region as its priority theatre, the Trump administration’s most visible foreign policy actions in 2025 unfolded far from home. At the same time, trade policy, industrial and technological capacity and military posture were elevated as the United States’ core instruments of strategic competition, while alliances were recast around expectations of reciprocity and strategic alignment with US priorities. Ahead of the release of the US National Defense Strategy and a possible Xi-Trump meeting in 2026, this panel examined US interests and priorities in the Indo-Pacific as well as the implications of Trump’s America First agenda for Australia and the region writ large in the year ahead.

Panellists

Panel 2: Australia-Taiwan Relations: What policy options and priorities for engagement?

For the past five decades, Canberra has pursued its engagement with Taiwan within the calibrated ambiguity provided by its One-China Policy. Its approach has been defined by pragmatism, consistency, and caution, guided by the strategic imperative to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Yet, in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific region, marked by an assertive Beijing and unpredictable Washington, such an approach warrants careful reassessment. As a new status quo emerges, Australia must test whether long-standing policy assumptions and engagement strategies towards Taiwan still serve its national interest and its commitment to uphold regional stability. This event will mark the launch of a United States Studies Centre major report on the Australia-Taiwan relationship, examining its scope, limits, and opportunities across the economic, diplomatic and defence domains.

Panellists

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