Australia’s economic integration with China developed in two distinct phases. The first was from 2003 to 2011 as iron ore coal exports boomed. The second was from 2011 and included international students, tourism, foodstuffs and investment.
The second phase came with corruption in various parliaments, the debasement of university ethics, the curtailment of free speech and the bullying of the Chinese diaspora.
The two phases ran concurrently with two phases in Chines politics. From 2003 until 2011, China liberalised its economy and politics. After 2011, Xi Jinping hurtled backward into despotism.
So, just as the influence of Chinese investment and peoples grew in Australia, its politics diverged radically from the Australian system of liberal democracy. This schism was always going to break the economic relationship eventually and it did so in 2017 with the Dastayari Affair.
That is why the Chinese embassy last year released its list of 14 conditions for a good relationship. They are all about changing the structure of the Australian political economy so that it fits within China’s autocratic state:
China’s 14 grievances against Australia
Yesterday the embassy was at it again, this time threatening anybody that stands up to…well..whatever it says:
In China, we have a saying that friendship would not be severed by mountains or seas. George Washington said that the true friendship is slow growing plant. I believe our friendship would not be diluted, would not be separated by distance or time. If you are in a difficult situation to be a China’s friend, don’t worry, your Chinese friends will stand together with you, your friends in China will always be with you. History will prove that it is wise and visionary to be China’s friends, and your children and grandchildren would be proud of you to be China’s friends and they will benefit from the relationship with China. Your Chinese friends and their children will also be proud and benefit from your friendship. For a better future and for the next generation, most people choose to make friends, but some people in Australia choose to make enemies to sustain a living. Those who deliberately vilify China and sabotage the friendship between our two countries and do damage to our long-term friendship and benefits out of their sectoral or selfish interest will be casted aside in history. Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names in the history.
Sadly for the embassy, the “panda-huggers” at the ACBC dinner represent just 6% of the population. The other 94% of Australians can’t divorce China fast enough:
And why not? With bullies like the embassy and other wolf warriors insulting and threatening us every second day. With the virus having ruined lifestyles and wealth. With economic coercion and interference attacking our most fundamental values. With corruption left, right and centre. So on and so forth. Why would the 94% of Australians not on the CCP payroll ever be its friend?
Australians are happy to divorce the CCP. We’re an enlightenment society, well advanced from the CCP’s pre-modern, feudal politics.
We’ve moved on. There are democracies all over the world that embrace freedom and liberalism the same way that we do and they want to be friends without enforcing a retrograde worldview. India and many other growth markets beckon. They are hungry for our goods and services too.
94% of Australians’ advice to China these days is to “get over it”.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
It would be as interesting to see the full list of attendees. Those who claim to be ‘nuanced’ just don’t get it, and don’t get how they are being used/manipulated. Who knows, maybe some of them are just fine with that as it suits them perfectly.
And yes…trust what I say as my rebuttal against tons of hard evidence re Xinjiang is…Jerry Grey. Yeah, right.
frag out
Oh they get it, even if they don’t appear to. That’s the nuance they speak of.
Luca BiasonMEMBER
Hmm…not so sure for some of them
SnappedUpSavvyMEMBER
cannot believe the wang devoted so much of the speech to rewriting the history of china siphoning off all our PPE. i mean what sort of wang does that
Fabian AlderseyMEMBER
The ABC News channel was full-on in terms of CCP propaganda this morning, it went on for ages.
It seemed to me like the ABC got a decent injection of much needed funding from somewhere.
DamienMEMBER
Bit of a tangent, but I’ve been really enjoying ‘The Cold War’ channel on youtube. Very interesting in it’s own right but still providing plenty of context and relevance for current events.
The FNG.MEMBER
“Your Chinese friends and their children will also be proud and benefit from your friendship. For a better future and for the next generation”
“Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names in the history.”
Does this dude think the young and old generations in Oz are currently on good terms?
HAHAHA. That’s cute.
DelraiserMEMBER
He hails from a nation where looking after your oldies is an obligation
We just dump them in a home and get on with our busy lives!
Funny watching 80/90s movies with characters saying everything is made in Japan.
Would like to see supply chains exit China but is it going to happen? Corporates don’t give a sheet , lowest cost producer
Luca BiasonMEMBER
Note to Mr Wang: you may question whether the strategy is actually working when even ACRI appears to have the slightest hint of an epiphany moment
But Ms Kassam said many Chinese Australians also said the federal government should hedge and put some limits on cooperation with Beijing.
For example, 49 per cent of those polled said the Australian Government should restrict scientific research with China in defence and security fields.
Sixty-five per cent said Australia should look for other markets to reduce its economic dependence on China, while 67 per cent said the government should sanction Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses.
“There is a real complexity of views there. There’s more positivity to China on the one hand, but a high level of concern about human rights and economic dependence and coercion on the other”.
matthew SmithMEMBER
excellent article Australians are sick of being played for suckers.
what a shocking speech, he even looks like a wang
Hyper-nationalistic, as you would expect, and specifically aimed at seeding division within Australia, nothing new:
http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/sghdxwfb_1/t1857437.htm?fbclid=IwAR29WxBcCNeKHmgmglvbNDjAKhExkxoYCMqhwp-ANurZ3_4-6zCvNhsCYZ8
It would be as interesting to see the full list of attendees. Those who claim to be ‘nuanced’ just don’t get it, and don’t get how they are being used/manipulated. Who knows, maybe some of them are just fine with that as it suits them perfectly.
And yes…trust what I say as my rebuttal against tons of hard evidence re Xinjiang is…Jerry Grey. Yeah, right.
Oh they get it, even if they don’t appear to. That’s the nuance they speak of.
Hmm…not so sure for some of them
cannot believe the wang devoted so much of the speech to rewriting the history of china siphoning off all our PPE. i mean what sort of wang does that
The ABC News channel was full-on in terms of CCP propaganda this morning, it went on for ages.
It seemed to me like the ABC got a decent injection of much needed funding from somewhere.
Bit of a tangent, but I’ve been really enjoying ‘The Cold War’ channel on youtube. Very interesting in it’s own right but still providing plenty of context and relevance for current events.
“Your Chinese friends and their children will also be proud and benefit from your friendship. For a better future and for the next generation”
“Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names in the history.”
Does this dude think the young and old generations in Oz are currently on good terms?
HAHAHA. That’s cute.
He hails from a nation where looking after your oldies is an obligation
We just dump them in a home and get on with our busy lives!
I know, you could not make that up… its so 1950s Mao Communist slogan pop – and I thought, surely not… but yes! http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/sghdxwfb_1/t1857437.htm
Funny watching 80/90s movies with characters saying everything is made in Japan.
Would like to see supply chains exit China but is it going to happen? Corporates don’t give a sheet , lowest cost producer
Note to Mr Wang: you may question whether the strategy is actually working when even ACRI appears to have the slightest hint of an epiphany moment
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3123775/australian-media-made-panda-hugging-sin-chinese-diplomat-wang
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-03/chinese-australians-physically-tension-pandemic-lowy-report/13207464
But Ms Kassam said many Chinese Australians also said the federal government should hedge and put some limits on cooperation with Beijing.
For example, 49 per cent of those polled said the Australian Government should restrict scientific research with China in defence and security fields.
Sixty-five per cent said Australia should look for other markets to reduce its economic dependence on China, while 67 per cent said the government should sanction Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses.
“There is a real complexity of views there. There’s more positivity to China on the one hand, but a high level of concern about human rights and economic dependence and coercion on the other”.
excellent article Australians are sick of being played for suckers.