Australia must take steps to reset ties

Editor’s note: Australia has been sending mixed signals to China. While the Australian foreign minister’s visit to China from Wednesday to Friday was expected to reset bilateral ties, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently said that Canberra will provide loans and grants worth AU$2 billion ($1.45 billion) for Pacific island countries for infrastructure, export and security financing, which is widely seen as an attempt to offset China’s influence in the region. Two experts share their views on the direction Sino-Australian ties should take with China Daily’s Pan Yixuan. Excerpts follow:

Australia sends mixed signals

Han Feng, a researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Australia’s vigilance against China, purportedly to safeguard its national security, increased with China’s rapid economic development. But Australia is not the only country to set up barriers against Chinese telecom companies due to ideological differences.

Yet by banning Huawei and ZTE from its 5G market, Australia has lost a chance to establish win-win cooperation with China in the advanced telecom field.

Despite their differences and disagreements over security, China and Australia have had close trade cooperation. More than 200 brands of Australian products were displayed at the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai last week.

Still, there are concerns that the China-US trade conflict might prompt Australia to side with its long-time ally the United States, which would further weaken Sino-Australian ties. However, even a superpower cannot formulate policies for an independent country.

And even if it feels more confident due to its alliance with Washington, Canberra may stick to its own policies — different from those of the US. For instance, Australia values global trade, because its development depends a lot on it, so it may not follow US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies that have done great harm to globalization. Besides, the “rulesbased world order” Australia has advocated for years is contrary to the full-blown protectionist policies of the US administration.

The hyping up of the “China threat” fallacy has also divided Australian political parties and public opinions, which could prevent Australia from enjoying the fruits of economic cooperation with its largest trade partner China — which would be a pity.

Canberra should adopt right approach toward Beijing

China-Australia relations plunged to a historical low during the previous government of prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, and incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison may not strive a lot to improve bilateral ties.

Hostility toward China has become an integral part of Australian politics because of ideological differences. Many Australian politicians have found that blaming China for their country’s ills and labeling it a national security risk are very cost-effective methods of shifting public attention from domestic economic problems to other issues. The ban on Huawei from entering Australian 5G market is an apt example of Canberra’s bias toward Beijing. Liu Qing, head of Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Studies

The Australian government has a dual policy toward China: cooperation with China in trade but vigilance against China on defense and security issues. And as long as the Liberal Party is still the leading party in Australia, Morrison is unlikely to change that policy much as it serves the purpose of conservative ruling party well. As the minister for immigration and border protection, Morrison proposed strict immigration policies and prevented the $10 billion sale of New South Wales electricity network company Ausgrid, to two bidders — a State-owned enterprise from the Chinese mainland and a listed company from Hong Kong.

And thanks to the US-Australia alliance, Canberra is partial to Washington’s stance, so it may not make much effort to improve relations with China, especially at a time when the China-US trade conflict is yet to be resolved.

However, the China-Australia free trade agreement entered into force in 2015, which means Australia should oppose Trump’s protectionist policies. As such, Australia will see to it that its ties with China do not worsen further.

But that would not be enough. Since Canberra created the misunderstandings in China-Australia relations, it should take concrete actions to truly reset bilateral ties. In other words, instead of trying to counterbalance its reliance on China’s market for economic prosperity with its unfriendly stance on China on security issues, it should adopt a unified approach toward China and take concrete steps to improve bilateral ties.