So many suspects!?

Further close ups (from H.I. Sutton) of exercise deployed Chines Beach Landing Docks.
I see this as unambiguous in Chinese intent to eventually land assets onto unprepared locations.
Interested in ur opinions as not yet mentioned on MM.

Yep.
The US has zero integrity and is proving to be gutless.

It will have to.
The US is less and less relevant.
- but of course EU would already know this, right?

It was an ambush, and Z didnt take the bait.
The US govt is a disgrace.

Yep.
Its hard to stay optimistic.

The US is getting what it has voted for, their numerous future generations to live in a plastic trash dump from the straws used today, and indeed those already in the sewers and rivers.

NZ capability has atrophied. They spend abt 1% on defence and rely on allies for most meaningful capability.
They field a small garrison capability but do they have ANY responsibility to contribute anything - do they even feature in ORBAT or are they disregarded as irrelevant?

Its impossible to imagine a defensive scenario affecting Aust or NZ that doesnt intrinsically effect the other.
So why does NZ escape heavy lifting capability expectations?
What will it take to evolve an Australasian NATO-esque collaborative capability arrangement?

Unless u start dominating the discussion and make these things general knowledge, the message of casual disenchantment will override.