Australia’s strategic defence review, to be made public on Monday, is likely to spark a hostile response from China and set off a new round of claim and counterclaim about the precarious relationship between the two countries. Sir Angus Houston, the former head of the Australian military who led the review with the former defence minister Stephen Smith, said when it was launched last year the strategic circumstances were “the worst I have ever seen in my career and lifetime”. “Clearly, our circumstances have changed dramatically over the recent past.…
Tag: Australian foreign policy
Chinese-Australians face fewer racist insults than at height of diplomatic tensions with Beijing, survey finds
Chinese-Australians have continued to experience racist insults but at a lower rate than when diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing erupted in 2020, a new study has found. Polling commissioned by the Lowy Institute indicates one in five Chinese-Australians said they were called offensive names because of their heritage in 2022. But this figure of 21% was four points lower than the result in the same survey in 2021, and down 10 points from 31% in 2020, when the diplomatic rift between the Chinese and Australian governments was most stark.…
Penny Wong and Paul Keating spar as minister warns against ‘frenzied’ Taiwan war speculation
Penny Wong has warned politicians and media against playing “the most dangerous of parlour games” by adding to “frenzied” speculation about a war over Taiwan. The Australian foreign affairs minister said on Monday that such a conflict would be “catastrophic for all” and there would be “no real winners” – but the warning was quickly overshadowed by a fresh war of words with Paul Keating. Wong hit back at the former Labor prime minister, who ridiculed the minister for “running around the Pacific islands with a lei around [her] neck…
Australia’s trade minister hopeful China bans will end but warns against putting ‘all our eggs in one basket’
The Australian trade minister says he wants a quick return to normal trade with China but has warned exporters not to put “all of our eggs in one basket”. In an interview with Guardian Australia, Don Farrell was bullish about the prospect of Australia succeeding in its international challenge against Beijing’s tariffs on Australian barley, saying he thought “we would ultimately win that”. But he said Australia had agreed to hit pause on that World Trade Organization dispute because “even a positive finding in our favour would still have meant…
Australian winemakers hopeful of breakthrough on $1.2bn China trade but still plan to diversify markets
Australian wine producers hope Beijing could soon remove tariffs that slashed the $1.2bn trade by 99% – but say they are wary about relying too heavily on the Chinese market. After the Australian government announced a deal with China that could lead to the scrapping of tariffs on barley within months, wine producers also expressed cautious optimism. The chief executive of Australian Grape and Wine, Lee McLean, said he hoped China’s promised review of the barley tariffs went well and could serve as a template for removing the imposts on…
Aukus isn’t enough to secure the region’s prosperity – there is still much more work to done | James Laurenceson
With the announcement of an “optimal pathway” for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines now behind us, there’s no sign of Beijing changing its approach to the bilateral relationship: much grumbling about Aukus but not much else. This was the expectation ahead of the announcement. Last year, Canberra and Beijing agreed to re-engage in full awareness of their differences – even “disputes”, the Chinese ambassador remarked – but also accept that these should not stop the two sides pursuing areas of mutual benefit. The diplomacy of the Albanese government, which turned…
‘Path of error and danger’: China angry and confused over Aukus deal
When the UK, the US and Australia announced the details of their multibillion-dollar deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines on Monday, the reaction in China was both outrage and confusion. The allies were “walking further and further down the path of error and danger”, said Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, on Tuesday. The Chinese mission to the UN accused the three countries of fuelling an arms race. The deal, which will provide Australia with at least three nuclear-powered submarines, is designed to counter the rising threat of China…
Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’
A Chinese embassy official asked Australian officials during an Aukus briefing whether the nuclear-powered submarines were intended for “sightseeing”, according to multiple sources. Guardian Australia understands several others in the room found the intervention curious, because the Australian government has made no secret of the fact the nuclear-powered submarines are to be used by the Royal Australian Navy. The comment was made during a briefing held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Wednesday at which dozens of representatives from other diplomatic missions were also present. It is…
‘Pretentious’, ‘hyperbolic’ and ‘irresponsible’: what was behind Nine newspapers’ Red Alert series?
It was one of the most alarming front-page stories in the nation’s history. Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age splashed the first episode in a three-part series with the headline: “Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years – and we’re not ready.” The most likely cause of war, the articles said, was a Chinese invasion of Taiwan to which the US would respond. “The nature of the threat extends to the prospect of a full-scale war – and Australia would have to be…
China’s sound and fury over Aukus will mean little for ties with Australia | Benjamin Herscovitch
Leaving aside former the prime minister Paul Keating’s anti-Aukus spray at the National Press Club on Wednesday, perhaps the strongest criticism about this week’s trilateral submarine deal between Australia, the US and the UK has come from Beijing. Rehearsing now-familiar talking points, the Chinese government on Tuesday decried Aukus as an example of a “typical cold war mentality” and a threat to both “regional peace and stability” and the “international nuclear non-proliferation regime”. This stream of Chinese government objections is likely to grow to a flood as Aukus takes shape.…