Casting an eye over relations between Canberra, Washington and Beijing, you could be forgiven for thinking that nuclear-powered submarines or social media app TikTok are at the top of the agenda.

But that would be missing the one technology that is the key to maintaining political power, protecting jobs and manufacturing. It’s also crucial to dealing with climate change and emissions, mining and critical minerals, trade and foreign investment and attracts the biggest government subsidies in world history.