Envoys’ job is to build ties, not destroy them

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Harry Harris, commander, United States Pacific Command, is likely to be the next US ambassador to Australia. The Post and several other media outlets, highlighting Harris’ tough past rhetoric aimed at China in the maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea, assume he will rally Australia to counter a rising China.

Even though Harris’ record seems to justify the speculation, I believe it is an inaccurate job description for Harris, or anyone who takes up that post. His mission should be to improve US-Australia relations rather than drive a wedge between Australia and China, which have seen their relations grow by leaps and bounds over the past decades.

US-Australia relations took a hit in February after US President Donald Trump criticized Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the phone over a refugee resettlement agreement former US president Barack Obama had made between the two countries. While the two leaders’ meeting in New York in May seemed to have mended bilateral ties to a certain extent, leaked video showed Turnbull mocking Trump at the Australian parliament’s annual midwinter ball in June.

China is Australia’s largest trade partner, with a surplus in Australia’s favor. Their bilateral trade is 2.4 times larger than that between Australia and the US. And Chinese investment in Australia last year reached its highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis — $11.49 billion, up 12 percent from 2015.

For those who want to play up the threat of Chinese investment in Australia, they should know the accumulated US direct investment in Australia is five times more than China’s.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in December 2015, has been described by the Australian government as the most favorable trade deal China has ever struck with a developed economy. But the deepening China-Australia relationship has gone beyond trade and investment to include education, culture, science and technology, tourism, and political and military fields.

Premier Li Keqiang met with Turnbull in Canberra in March at the fifth China-Australia Annual Prime Ministerial Meeting. And on Aug 28, the Chinese and Australian militaries held their 20th defense strategy consultation in Canberra to discuss bilateral and regional issues.

True, like many other countries, China and Australia may not see eye-to-eye on every issue, including the maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea. But tension in the South China Sea has greatly eased in the past year. Relations between China and the Philippines have improved remarkably. Besides, China has been working with ASEAN member states to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, deepen their maritime cooperation, and push forward consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

These are positive signs the US and Australia both should encourage. It is absurd for anyone to assume that China — whose economy, more than any other country’s, depends on peace and stability in the South China Sea — would want to destabilize the region.

Some Americans believe Harris, if he does get the ambassador’s post (as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon hoped he would), would make efforts to prevent Australia from getting closer to China. They expressed deep concern when former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott ignored a US warning in March 2015 and joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Australian leaders, like the leaders of other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, have repeatedly said they don’t want to be forced into choosing between China and the US.

That is what Harris, or whoever becomes the next US ambassador to Australia, should bear in mind.