{"id":60413,"date":"2020-11-12T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=60413"},"modified":"2020-11-12T10:49:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T23:49:45","slug":"downsizing-australia-china-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/downsizing-australia-china-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"Downsizing Australia\u2013China relations"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The 2016 Australia\u2013China joint economic report, Partnership for change<\/em><\/a>\u2014a study undertaken by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and the Australian National University\u2014argues that \u2018Capturing the economic potential of the relationship will depend on how both the public and private sectors in Australia and China engage up close and shape the relationship.\u2019 Getting the most out of the relationship for both countries, it states, will \u2018require a functional understanding among policymakers, corporate leaders and the broader community of the changes that will shape China and the regional and global environment in the next 10 years\u2019.<\/p>\n

Five years on, the relationship has certainly changed, but not in ways that the authors of that report would have hoped or imagined. While there\u2019s not much partnership or \u2018up close\u2019 engagement to speak of these days, certainly at the government-to-government level, the relationship is being shaped by a more attuned Australian understanding of China\u2019s tactics and intentions.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s nationalist rhetoric and its efforts in recent years to permanently reshape the strategic landscape of the region have changed everything. Once peripheral concerns within the Australian community about China\u2019s willingness to use force and coercion to achieve its goals are now widespread. Last week\u2019s halting of a range of exports from Australia in violation of both World Trade Organization rules and the 2015 China\u2013Australia Free Trade Agreement<\/a> is the latest in a series of actions that demonstrate Beijing\u2019s willingness to punish those it thinks have stepped out of line.<\/p>\n

That these punitive actions are politically motivated is now indisputable. Summoning the impulses to downplay the seriousness of the challenge we face is much harder than it used to be. The relationship needs to change, but how?<\/p>\n

Our biggest challenge might lie in confronting the most basic assumption that has guided Australia\u2019s engagement with China since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972\u2014namely, that economic activity is always going to be the main route to advancing the bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n

If the boundaries between political, economic and strategic interests continue to blur and China\u2019s leaders continue to expect deference in return for that activity, it will certainly not be. Fading delineations mean it is no longer possible to isolate the economic or strategic component of the relationship without fear of political sensitivities getting in the way.<\/p>\n

In that bleak environment, a new emphasis on values is likely to have a more positive impact on the overall development of the bilateral relationship. It has always felt to me that not emphasising values in our dealings with China inadvertently signalled to Beijing a willingness to trade them away.<\/p>\n

Looking back, the problem for those who have sought to keep values at arm\u2019s length from the Australia\u2013China relationship, particularly the economic dimension of it, was generally understood not as one concerning the importance of values themselves, but the likelihood of upsetting China when we are forced to act in accordance with them, or of looking weak and unprincipled when we should but do not.<\/p>\n

With China already upset with us and the bilateral relationship at near breaking point, it makes little sense to keep thinking this way. Now might be the time to try something new.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2016 Australia\u2013China joint economic report, Partnership for change\u2014a study undertaken by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and the Australian National University\u2014argues that \u2018Capturing the economic potential of the relationship will depend on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1034,"featured_media":60423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2212,285,444],"class_list":["post-60413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia-china-relations","tag-foreign-policy","tag-values"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDownsizing Australia\u2013China relations | 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\/downsizing-australia-china-relations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Downsizing Australia\u2013China relations | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2016 Australia\u2013China joint economic report, Partnership for change\u2014a study undertaken by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and the Australian National University\u2014argues that \u2018Capturing the economic potential of the relationship will depend on ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/downsizing-australia-china-relations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-12T00:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-11T23:49:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GettyImages-923026994.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"443\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Forrest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Forrest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/downsizing-australia-china-relations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GettyImages-923026994.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GettyImages-923026994.jpg\",\"width\":788,\"height\":443,\"caption\":\"Australian and Chinese flag pair on desk over defocused background. 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