If Britain proceeds with giving effect to what future historians will legitimately describe as the longest suicide note in history by leaving the union, the cold, hard reality is that the mathematics simply don’t stack up in terms of credible economic alternatives to Europe. Much as any Australian, Canadian and New Zealand governments of whichever persuasion would do whatever they could to frame new free-trade agreements with the UK, the bottom line is that 65 million of us do not come within a bull’s roar of Britain's adjacent market of 450 million Europeans. 

In Australia we successfully navigated the GFC without losing a single financial institution – although we came perilously close in a number of cases – and without a single citizen losing their saving deposits. We also became the only major developed economy  to come through the great global recession unscathed.

President Donald Trump’s recent Asia trip casts further doubts about America’s long-term standing and commitment in the region. In particular, his “America first” speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam cast a shadow on America’s willingness to cooperate with Asian allies.

Chinese political, economic and foreign policy influence in Asia will continue to grow significantly, while China will also become a more active participant in the reform of the global rules-based order.

A core geopolitical fact emerging is that we are now seeing the rise of what (analyst) Evan Feigenbaum has described as "two Asias": an "economic Asia" that is increasingly dominated by China; and a "security Asia" that remains dominated by the United States.

In the cynical world of politics it is important, just occasionally, to give credit where it is due. The commitments on carbon emissions announced on Wednesday by President Barack Obama of the US and President Xi Jinping of China, supported by the significant diplomacy of Secretary of State John Kerry, are both environmentally substantive and politically influential. Between them, these countries account for 44 per cent of global carbon emissions – a share that is still rising.

China's political, economic and foreign policy over the next decade is not only fundamental to the country itself, but also to the wider Asia-Pacific region and – increasingly -- the world beyond.

China already represents 16 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), rising to 28 percent by 2030. China is also by far the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, continued maritime boundary disputes in both the East and South China seas are a significant continuing factor in the region's underlining strategic instability. How China deals with each of these challenges is therefore of significance to us all.