Australia has unnecessarily exposed itself to Beijing's fury, but relying on the US now is risky | Jonathan Pearlman

Australia has mishandled the inquiry into Covid-19, but it is in uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory

• Sign up for Guardian Australia's daily coronavirus email
• Download the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications
• Coronavirus Australia maps and cases: live numbers and statistics

For more than a decade, Australia has faced a seemingly impossible choice: whether to strengthen ties with its closest ally, the United States, or with its largest trading partner, China.

But the Covid-19 pandemic - which has highlighted the dangers posed by both Donald Trump's nativism and Xi Jinping's authoritarianism - is forcing Australia to confront a new option: choose neither.

Related: In a testy post-Covid-19 world, Chinese sanctions of Australian goods may be closer than ever | Richard McGregor

Jonathan Pearlman is editor of Australian Foreign Affairs and world editor of The Saturday Paper