{"id":74095,"date":"2022-07-26T11:06:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T01:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=74095"},"modified":"2022-07-26T11:06:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T01:06:03","slug":"australia-is-walking-the-walk-on-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-is-walking-the-walk-on-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia is walking the walk on China"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Australia is now seeing the reality of its bilateral relationship with China: one with tension, in which engagement occurs but is not the goal in itself, and where Australia doesn\u2019t concede sovereignty for economic gain.<\/p>\n

The resumption of communication between defence and foreign ministers, and others, is in Australia\u2019s interest because it allows for cooperation while retaining focus on irritants and concerns.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, dialogue has recommenced on an unconditional basis, meaning Australia hasn\u2019t compromised on any of its foreign policy, national security and defence settings. That is, the first shift has been made by China, dropping its\u00a0requirement that Australia change<\/a> before engaging at the ministerial level\u2014a positive outcome for the new government and our nation.<\/p>\n

In re-establishing dialogue without preconditions, the government has reinforced Australia\u2019s strategic policy settings. The prime minister, defence minister and foreign minister have made it clear that Australia\u2019s rhetoric will be carefully calibrated while policies on matters such as 5G, laws such as the counter-foreign-interference legislation, and groupings including AUKUS and Quad will not only be retained but remain core to Australia\u2019s national security posture.<\/p>\n

The principle was\u00a0set out<\/a> by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who said Australia will continue to make decisions \u2018on the basis of our national interest, our security and our sovereignty\u2019. It was\u00a0reinforced<\/a> by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who responded to a new set of four conditions from China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi by saying: \u2018Australia doesn\u2019t respond to demands.\u2019<\/p>\n

Resuming dialogue without compromising any policy settings means the Australian government has gained the upper hand diplomatically.<\/p>\n

Calibrating language doesn\u2019t mean silence<\/a>.\u00a0The government has continued to appropriately identify malicious actions, security threats and human rights abuses. Consider Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles\u2019s frank assessment at the opening of ASPI\u2019s office in Washington DC this month: \u2018This is the most dangerous period I\u2019ve lived through\u2014we are witnessing the biggest military build-up since the Second World War … That\u2019s what keeps me awake at night.\u2019<\/p>\n

The strategic continuity is clear. It shows that the difficult decisions taken in recent years were important to ensure that future governments didn\u2019t have to make even harder and more disruptive decisions.<\/p>\n

Bigger tests lie ahead. For example, China desperately wants to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and\u00a0some in Australia are already proposing<\/a>\u00a0that the Australian government should compromise in this area. That would be a critical mistake, because it would reinforce China\u2019s practice of economic coercion, a malign tactic used against Australia and many of our partners, including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.<\/p>\n

The CPTPP shouldn\u2019t be a compromise to attract more positive rhetoric, or be used by Canberra as a reciprocal concession for Beijing lifting its unfair trade measures; the free trade deal should be open only to countries that meet its strict standards. Meeting and upholding those standards should be required of China, just as for every other applicant, including Taiwan.<\/p>\n

A high bar should be set for the accession of the UK, which applied before China. There would also be benefits for Beijing, since trading partners would have increased trust that China had fairly gained access. If we and the other 11 CPTPP countries allow China to join unconditionally, that would only encourage the Chinese Communist Party to continue its coercion.<\/p>\n

As Wong has said, Australia should continue to identify ways of \u2018stabilising\u2019 the bilateral relationship. This can and should occur without Australia ignoring the impact of China\u2019s international behaviour. Australia has appreciated international support during our period facing coercion and, even in a more stable relationship, we should continue supporting states, such as Lithuania, that face coercion merely for making sovereign decisions.<\/p>\n

There could be an early test, given there are signs that Beijing could lift its\u00a0ban on Australian coal<\/a>\u2014a key plank in the CCP\u2019s economic coercion campaign. That would be positive for Australian coal exports, but shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a CCP concession that requires a reciprocal concession from us\u2014there should be no reward for beginning to do what is right. If the coal ban ends, it will be driven by Beijing\u2019s self-interest\u2014alleviating supply issues resulting from Russia\u2019s war.<\/p>\n

We must also recognise that Beijing continues to strengthen its coercive hand in other ways. For instance, Chinese state media has announced that the new China Mineral Resources Group will help coordination in the steel industry, seemingly with an eye to controlling the price of iron ore, Australia\u2019s most valuable export to China.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, even as relations \u2018stabilise\u2019 and opportunities for cooperation are rightly identified, sunlight should continue to be poured on intimidatory behaviour. Transparency remains a key element in countering coercion, whether it is economic pressure or arbitrary detention. As ministerial re-engagement and trade improve, we must continue fighting for the release of detained Australians including Yang Hengjun and Cheng Lei.<\/p>\n

The new Australian government has shown it can both talk and act in the national interest. All sectors should support these active principles in the name of Australian sovereignty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia is now seeing the reality of its bilateral relationship with China: one with tension, in which engagement occurs but is not the goal in itself, and where Australia doesn\u2019t concede sovereignty for economic gain. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":74096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2212,416,52,294],"class_list":["post-74095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia-china-relations","tag-australian-government","tag-china","tag-diplomacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia is walking the walk on China | 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\/australia-is-walking-the-walk-on-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia is walking the walk on China | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia is now seeing the reality of its bilateral relationship with China: one with tension, in which engagement occurs but is not the goal in itself, and where Australia doesn\u2019t concede sovereignty for economic gain. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-is-walking-the-walk-on-china\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-07-26T01:06:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1241772439.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Bassi\" \/>\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=\"Justin Bassi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 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\/australia-is-walking-the-walk-on-china\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1241772439.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1241772439.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong (L) speaks with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Nusa Dua on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on July 8, 2022. 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