Australia remains troubled by China’s strategic ambitions and its activities impinging on the Chinese–Australian community, but is realistic about its ability to shift Beijing’s behaviour. In a major speech in April 2023, Foreign Minister Wong acknowledged that “China is going to keep being China”. Australia’s economic interdependence with China has led to concerns, particularly in the United States, that Australia might prove unreliable if ever put to the test. A functioning bilateral relationship is not an end in itself, yet it is a necessary mechanism for prosecuting the national interest. Australia will manage well enough if its North Korea relationship is moribund; it is not sensible for this to be the norm with China.