Li kicks off Oceania visit
Ties to be boosted as Canberra adjusts foreign policies
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left Beijing on Wednesday for an official visit to Australia and New Zealand, his first visit to Oceania as premier, eyeing expansion of business ties with the two countries.
With the US retreating from globalization and the Trump administration vowing to prioritize his America First policy, China is eyeing broader and closer economic ties with Australia and New Zealand, and Canberra is also adjusting its foreign policy at a time of great- er uncertainty, analysts said.
China and Australia, two highly complementary countries, are seeking room for cooperation between China’s One Belt and One Road initiative and Australia’s plan to develop its northern territories.
During his stay in Austra- lia, Li will attend the fifth annual meeting between Chinese premier and Australian prime minister, and meet Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove and leaders of the Australian parliament. Li and Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull will both attend a trade cooperation forum between China and Australia.
The two sides are expected to discuss a range of topics, including further implementing bilateral free trade agreements and strengthening cooperation in technology, energy, education, tourism and judiciary.
Chinese foreign ministry also said Tuesday that China and Australia will “strengthen the link between their development strategies.”
Experts said the two countries could be seeking common interests and room for cooperation in China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Australia’s “Developing Northern Australia” initiative.
“Northern Australia is very much like western China where population is sparse and infrastructure is lacking. It makes sense for the two countries to find common ground in their initiatives, where China can help provide infrastructure at a lower cost,” Liang Haiming, chief economist of China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
According to a white paper released by the former Australian government in June 2015, the vision of development will focus on building roads, developing water resources, removing red tape, and building a sustainable workforce.
Jan Adams, Australian ambassador to China, has said that China’s Belt and Road initiative and Australia’s northern development plans are highly complementary on a strategic level, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Foreign policy adjustment
Li’s visit to Australia comes at a time when Canberra is eyeing adjustment in its foreign policies after the US, its staunchest ally, withdrew from the Trans- Pacific Partnership and Europe is struggling with an uncertain direction, leaving China to become the unexpected defender of globalization and free trade.
In an article published Wednesday in The Australian newspaper, Li said that globalization is “inseparable” from peace.
“Self- isolation will never lead one to the land of happiness. Cutting oneself off could neither ensure success of one’s own endeavor nor peace and development of the world at large. A trade war will not make trade fairer. Protectionism offers no genuine protection,” Li wrote.
Earlier this month, Australia decided to summon more than 100 of its top diplomats from around the world, including ambassadors, high commissioners and consul- generals, to help craft a new foreign policy agenda.
“I believe Australia is trying to be more independent in foreign policy, trying to rely less on the US and its allies from Europe,” Han Feng, a professor in the Institute of Asia- Pacific Studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
“Make no mistake, Canberra is and will remain in the West’s camp. But with the end of the Cold War and two decades of globalization, the line of ideology that divides the East and the West has started to blur. The room or shared ideas and cooperation between China and Australia, such as on development, is on the rise,” Han said.
China has been Australia’s No. 1 trade partner for eight consecutive years and the largest buyer of Australian agricultural goods and mining products. With a free trade agreement coming into effect in 2016, bilateral trade between the two countries hit $ 107.8 billion and bilateral investment volume topped $ 100 billion.
Premier Li will also be traveling to New Zealand after Australia. In New Zealand, Li is expected to meet with Prime Minister Bill English and Governor- General Patsy Reddy.
According to analysts, China and New Zealand are expected to make progress on the upgrade of the bilateral free trade agreement during Li’s visit.
The two countries are also eyeing expanding cooperation in infrastructure with many seeing China’s Belt and Road initiative as an opportunity for local New Zealand companies, analysts said.