There is clear evidence that US efforts to build a coalition of allies in our region is directed at containing Chinese power and developing the capability to eventually confront the Chinese military. That scenario is a nightmare for Australia. We now find certain elements of a Labor government flirting with containment and confrontation with China – instead of openly seeking to secure peace and prosperity through dialogue and diplomacy. It would be a major mistake for Labor to join the Coalition in goading and provoking our greatest trading partner and the primary source of our prosperity. That is why we have joined with former Labor Foreign Ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans in drafting the Détente Statement. (more…)
Tag: China
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Finding a way forward: A review of Australia’s relations with China
Let’s not reject forty years of cooperation and exchange with China. Australia has greatly benefitted from trade, investment, cultural exchange and collaboration over these decades. Now, as the United States and Europe threaten to raise tariffs, erect barriers to exchanges and prioritise security concerns, it is time to remember when we espoused multilateralism and openness. (more…)
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China: learning from Canute
Regularly, Western media claims that China’s run is near an end and that collapse is just around the corner. So constant has this become, it is like a broken gramophone record. Recently predictions of this collapse have been couched around the indebtedness of some major players in the Chinese property market. The ‘inevitable collapse’, however, never comes. (more…)
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Why I believe what I believe about the Chinese Revolution
Late last year, a colleague sent me a letter decrying some of my writings about China, notably the last newsletter of 2023. This newsletter is my response to him. (more…)
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Is China an economic threat?
America insists on treating China as an economic threat, but the reality is that China’s economic advancement has benefited us all. Instead, the stagnation of wages and manufacturing job losses experienced by Trump supporters in the US largely reflects the impact of technological change. (more…)
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The obstacles that now face Chinese FDI in Australia are only partly Australia-made
In the increasingly geopolitically charged waters of international trade and investment, Chinese technology enterprises are navigating a particularly turbulent current in Australia. The growing scepticism and regulatory scrutiny they face reflect a techno-geopolitical uncertainty, with Australia caught between its economic interdependence with China and strategic alignment with the United States. (more…)
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China is prepared for cross-Taiwan strait reunification
“I hope to get a Chinese passport and become a Chinese citizen,” a Taiwanese student of mine once told me. “Only by being Chinese can we have confidence and become the most powerful country in the world. If we remain only Taiwanese, we are but a mere vassal of the United States,” he said with hope and urgency. (more…)
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China: Perspectives beyond the mainstream media
China looms large in the Australian psyche. On a practical level, what happens in China largely determines the success of global action to deal with climate change, the profitability of our rural economy and the financing of our universities. Our national leaders are concerned about rising tensions in our region and the interplay of US-China relations. How are we to find our way through media doom and gloom and come to grips with the reality of China? (more…)
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The future will be decided by economic influence, not military dominance
America is falling into a trap. It thinks the future will be decided by military dominance, despite losing one war after another. China, on the other hand, recognises that the future will be decided by economics. (A repost from October 2023). (more…)
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On China/Australia relations the language has improved but there has not been much change of substance
A major problem for a settler society like Australia is to reconcile our history and our geography. In the last 10 years we’ve lost ground in reconciling the two. (more…)
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In the Australia-China relationship, Australia will always follow the US-A repost from October 16,2023
From China’s perspective, Australia will always follow the US no matter what. And the US is out to contain China – there is nothing that China could do to change that. Australia has made relatively little effort to change this perception. This means for China, there is little point in putting much effort into dealing with Australia directly. The only way for the China-Australia relationship to be noticeably improved is for the China-US relationship to be improved first. This all sounds dismal. But in fact, nothing is inevitable. Both sides have agency to change those perceptions. (more…)
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Beyond good and evil: The mainstream media and stable relations with China
By going beyond the good and evil binary, the Australian media could play a more constructive role in fostering enduring stability between Australia and China, delineating a path that maintains Australia’s safety and integrity. (more…)
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Sino-US normalisation: the real legacy of the late Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger’s role in expediting the Sino-US normalization and recognition process represented one of the greatest feats in modern diplomatic history. (more…)
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Courage and conscience: It’s time for independence in media reporting on China
For the sake of Australia’s national interest, and for journalistic integrity that will be judged by history, can mainstream media maintain independence from short-term, vulgar political and geopolitical influence and interference, especially with regard to reporting about China? (more…)
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Xenophobia and threats to Australia’s knowledge of China
The failure of the latest round of government-funded research grants to include any topics related to China weakens Australia’s capacity to understand and manage relations with the region’s biggest power, writes Louise Edwards. (more…)
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Regulatory certainty and entrepreneurship: Unlocking Australia-China climate collaboration
Entrepreneurs occupy a pivotal role in bridging the gap between Australia and China, especially when it comes to climate collaboration. (more…)
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Living with the Sino nemesis
China’s economy today is around 50 times larger, in real terms, than it was 50 years ago. A World Bank report in 2022 confirmed that during this period, China lifted at least 800 million people out of extreme poverty, contributing close to 75% of the total reduction in extreme poverty, globally. (more…)
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Understanding China – According to its own history and culture
In order to understand what is happening in China now and predict what may happen over the following years we must draw on Chinese history and philosophy to guide us. Relying on the western experience to guide our thinking about China may be more comforting and accessible but it leaves us in a very poor position when considering the world’s newest and oldest superpower. (more…)
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War with China: Babbling incoherence and missing evidence
With the expansion of all services of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – no matter that it is consistent with a defensive posture – China’s every strategic move now is rendered totally unacceptable after passing through a prism designed and issued on a complementary basis by the US.
Hyper-suspicion is the attitude and threat inflation is the product.
Whatever China does, regardless of its context, is automatically rendered an indication of a currently hostile mindset and, quite likely, future aggression.
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Is a re-set likely in our media’s China coverage?
Andy Park, the host of Drive on ABC Radio National, asked one of his guests the following question about Albanese’s visit to China: ‘Scoring an invitation to go to Beijing is obviously a coup for Mr Albanese. Obviously, much was said and done under the table diplomatically speaking. … Do you think the average Australian thinks it’s the right direction for Australia’? This is a good question indeed. (more…)
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Biden confirms he’s not the intellect he once was
Once again Biden confirms he’s not the intellect he once was. People will remember years ago when Biden was a smart, intelligent and incisive man. He was always easy to disagree with but never easy to dismiss. Now, there is a serious danger whenever he goes off-script. As he left a meeting with Xi Jinping, he did so again by calling Xi Jinping a dictator. (more…)
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Beyond the mainstream media: The ‘why’ of Chinese foreign policy
China is very important for Australia. The recent Prime Ministerial visit to Beijing, the first in seven years, underscores that. The fundamental question we need to ask ourselves across all the various sectors of Australia’s multi-faceted China-interested community is, are we getting China right? Do we know as much as we think we know? If we’re not, and if we don’t, the potential for missteps and miscalculations are very high, and the implications for heightening tensions and divisions are very negative. (more…)
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Biden forgets that the C in APEC stands for cooperation
There are 21 countries attending APEC and over 1,200 organisations from within those countries. Only one of the 21 countries, which happens to be the host, has a recent history of promoting de-coupling, or de-risking which is diametrically opposed to what APEC stands for; they seem to forget that the C means cooperation. (more…)
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We need a deeper understanding of Chinese politics
We need a better understanding of the complexities of Chinese politics – treating it like a ‘Black Box’ will leave us poorly equipped for a world where China is the other superpower, writes Louise Edwards. (more…)
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Impressions of China: political stagnation and an economy transformed
After a one week China tour organised by some Chinese entrepreneurs to mark the anniversary of the 1971 pingpong diplomacy which opened China to the outside world, two firm impressions remain. One is the extraordinary pace and dynamism of the economic, and social, progress. The other is the political stagnation, with our guides still clinging to the name of Chairman Mao. (more…)
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Time for Labor to focus on those who are hurting
It was only in March this year that The Sydney Morning Herald claimed in a series called Red Alert that Australia “faces the real prospect of war with China within three years that could involve a direct attack on our mainland”. There were no grounds to believe this then and even fewer after Anthony Albanese’s recent visit to China which both countries described as providing a “positive” outcome. (more…)
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Pivoting away from China’s manufacturing power threatens global supply chains
While the US and its allies prioritise reducing supply chain risks, reshuffling away from China, repercussions from decoupling or de-risking might pose greater concerns than the risks themselves. Such actions could bifurcate the global economy, leading to fragmented supply chains and divergent technology standards. This could hinder global economic recovery, dampen investment flows, and impede collective efforts to address climate change. (more…)
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US proxy Anthony Albanese goes to Beijing
While Australia’s formal sovereignty resides with the British monarch as part of the Commonwealth, its real sovereignty is to be found somewhere in Washington. (more…)
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Australia-China relations: Diplomacy and a win “Without a Fight”
We should be greatly encouraged by Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to China. Isolation is always a bad thing. Dialogue is essential for relationships to be sustained or nourished. This is the most important aspect of the visit, far outweighing in importance any specific outcome. (more…)
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Albanese’s China visit: an ear to the future
Fifty years’ ago, the grainy black and white image of Whitlam with his ear pressed against the listening wall at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, led to the joke: What is being said to Gough? Answer: ‘Mei you!’ The ubiquities response then by Chinese service staff in restaurants and stores in those day, loosely, ‘don’t have any’. (more…)