{"id":16999,"date":"2014-11-20T06:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T19:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=16999"},"modified":"2014-11-21T11:39:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T00:39:47","slug":"obama-and-xi-speeches-on-g20-sidelines-bode-well-for-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/obama-and-xi-speeches-on-g20-sidelines-bode-well-for-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama and Xi speeches on G20 sidelines bode well for Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/p111214ps-0164.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17000 size-full\" title=\"President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of China greet children during the State Arrival Welcome Ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Nov. 12, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/p111214ps-0164.jpg\" alt=\"President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of China greet children during the State Arrival Welcome Ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Nov. 12, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)\" width=\"654\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/p111214ps-0164.jpg 654w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/p111214ps-0164-205x137.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/p111214ps-0164-332x221.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 654px) 100vw, 654px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Despite US President Obama drawing attention to Australia\u2019s inaction on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/national\/barack-obama-didnt-sugarcoat-his-climate-change-message-to-australia-saying-its-time-to-act\/story-fncynjr2-1227123827989\" target=\"_blank\">climate change<\/a>, we should be extremely pleased with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/2014\/11\/15\/remarks-president-obama-university-queensland\" target=\"_blank\">his speech<\/a>, as well as <a href=\"http:\/\/parlinfo.aph.gov.au\/parlInfo\/search\/display\/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F35c9c2cf-9347-4a82-be89-20df5f76529b%2F0005;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F35c9c2cf-9347-4a82-be89-20df5f76529b%2F0000%22\" target=\"_blank\">that of<\/a> Chinese President Xi Jinping. Obama\u2019s speech has reinforced the US rebalance to the Asia Pacific at a time when American attention has again been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/middleeast\/2014\/11\/martin-dempsey-isil-iraq-2014111522186959294.html\" target=\"_blank\">hijacked by the Middle East<\/a>; Xi\u2019s has elevated the status of the Australia\u2013China relationship at a crucial time for the region.<\/p>\n<p>While a large component of Obama\u2019s speech was a call to action on climate change (perhaps <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2014-11-15\/brisbane-youth-reflect-on-barack-obama-g20-speech\/5894158\" target=\"_blank\">appealing to his young, student audience<\/a>), a significant portion focused on the US rebalance to Asia. That should be music to Australian ears as well as to other US allies in the region. Obama conceded that events around the world had \u2018demanded [US] attention\u2019 including ISIL, Russian aggression in Ukraine and the outbreak of Ebola. However, he reassured allies and partners that those challenges weren\u2019t distracting the US from the Asia Pacific because \u2018\u2026in each of these international efforts some of our strongest partners are our allies and friends in the region\u2019.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>While Obama may have been reaching a bit here, he grabbed the issue of greater allied support for global US pursuits with two hands: \u2018Our rebalance is not only about the United States doing more in Asia, it\u2019s also about the Asia Pacific region doing more with us around the world\u2019. Translation: allies should step up to help in global coalitions so America will have the capacity to stay around for longer in the Asia Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>Obama also had a couple of subtle jabs for China in his speech, saying:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u2018An effective security order for Asia must be based\u2014not on spheres of influence, or coercion, or intimidation where big nations bully the small\u2014but on alliances of mutual security, international law and international norms\u2026\u2019<\/li>\n<li>\u2018\u2026by the end of this decade a majority of [US] Navy and Air Force fleets will be based out of the Pacific because the United States is and will always be a Pacific Power. And keep in mind we do this without any territorial claims\u2026\u2019<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;How well a country does is based on how well they empower their individual citizens\u2026\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Obama was less subtle in saying \u2018in this engagement we are also encouraging China to adhere to the same rules as other nations\u2014whether in trade or on the seas\u2019. That frank and forthright approach to China could be more effective than an approach that pulls its punches: being upfront about what America wants from China sends a stronger message and leaves less room for ambiguity.<\/p>\n<p>The important parts of President Xi\u2019s speech for Australian strategic policy were his suggestion that China and Australia become \u2018strategic partners, who have shared vision and pursue common goals\u2019 and that we increase our security cooperation in a number of areas.<\/p>\n<p>Xi\u2019s assertion that Australia and China have \u2018every reason\u2019 to go beyond a commercial partnership and become strategic partners is perfectly true, but it doesn\u2019t mean we share the same vision of the world. Australia and China\u2019s strategic interests don\u2019t overlap in the key area of maintaining the US-led regional order in the Asia Pacific. In addition, our track record over the last few years has been patchy at best: Australia\u2019s military and diplomatic support for the US rebalance to Asia has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-efforts-to-break-the-australia-us-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\">criticised by China<\/a> and China\u2019s assertive actions in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas and declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2013-11-27\/china-rejects-australian-criticism-of-new-air-zone\/5120920\" target=\"_blank\">criticised by Australia<\/a>. Given those factors, it\u2019s hard to see how Xi could reasonably expect a strategic partnership with Australia to be especially close.<\/p>\n<p>However, Xi\u2019s assertion that we should cooperate on \u2018disaster relief, counter-terrorism, maritime safety and jointly meet various security challenges\u2019 is positive. By making this statement in Australian Parliament, Xi has shown that China is open to exploring new means of security cooperation with Australia, despite our alliance with the US and ongoing support for the rebalance.<\/p>\n<p>Another important takeaway from Xi\u2019s speech was how much it stressed China\u2019s desire for peace and cooperation. Xi uttered the word \u2018peace\u2019 no less than 22 times in his speech and \u2018win-win\u2019 also featured prominently. Even for a diplomatic address, Xi seemed generous in his assertions, saying that China \u2018will never develop itself at the expense of others\u2019; \u2018sincerely hopes to work with other countries in the region to\u2026achieve win-win progress\u2019; and is ready to \u2018enhance dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries to jointly maintain freedom of navigation\u2019. Those are all positive signs for the region and us.<\/p>\n<p>All things considered, the implications for Australia from Obama and Xi\u2019s speeches are good: the rebalance has been reinforced and there\u2019s more fruit to bear from the Australia-China relationship. While both Obama and Xi made veiled references to the strategic tensions between their countries, they also showed that they can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/business\/wall-street-journal\/us-china-agree-climate-change-co2-emissions-plans\/story-fnay3ubk-1227120687144\" target=\"_blank\">cooperate on climate change<\/a> and they both want to work more with Australia. That\u2019s good for us.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/about-aspi\/aspi-staff\/analysts\/hayley-channer\" target=\"_blank\">Hayley Channer<\/a> is an analyst at ASPI. Image courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/photos-and-video\/photogallery\/november-2014-photo-day\" target=\"_blank\">The White House<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite US President Obama drawing attention to Australia\u2019s inaction on climate change, we should be extremely pleased with his speech, as well as that of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Obama\u2019s speech has reinforced the US &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":17000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[176,52,378,487,31,204],"class_list":["post-16999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-china","tag-rebalance","tag-speech","tag-united-states","tag-xi-jinping"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Obama and Xi speeches on G20 sidelines bode well for Australia | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/obama-and-xi-speeches-on-g20-sidelines-bode-well-for-australia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obama and Xi speeches on G20 sidelines bode well for Australia | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite US President Obama drawing attention to Australia\u2019s inaction on climate change, we should be extremely pleased with his speech, as well as that of Chinese President Xi Jinping. 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