Not that should surprise anyone. It only took a brief holiday from grovelling during the 14 conditions to democracy crisis. And now it is back.
This week the disgraceful paper is on both knees.
First up, is the velvet glove on the iron fist. Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian gets a free run to publish his propaganda:
Against the backdrop of growing risks in the world economy and surging undercurrents of protectionism, China has opened its door even wider to the world and never stopped deepening its external cooperation.
1. Remarkable growth
China’s economy is experiencing a remarkable trend of steady growth and has great potential for development. Despite a slowdown in global economic growth, China remains an important economy and has the best momentum of development while maintaining a low level of inflation.2. High-quality development
China has been unswervingly facilitating high-quality development and high-standard opening up. China has fully implemented the new development concept, accelerated the construction of a new development pattern, guided high-quality development through innovation, and is devoted to achieving the steady growth of its economy towards high-quality development.3. Win-win cooperation
The mutually beneficial and win-win economic and trade cooperation between China and Australia has yielded fruitful results and is poised for bright prospects.China is ready to join hands with Australia to consolidate cooperation achievements in traditional areas and strengthen close ties of cooperation in such emerging areas as new energy and climate change.
Let me translate that for you:
- China’s catch-up growth period is over.
- Bulk commodities are screwed in due course.
- We’d like to find new ways to bind you to the autocracy.
Meanwhile, regular China groveller, Professor James Curran, grovels about AUSMIN:
Labor is tentative. Last December, Foreign Minister Penny Wong pressed the Americans to increase their regional economic footprint, aware that its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is anaemic. Moreover, she reminded them of the architecture of restraint that prevented the unthinkable in the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962.
But America now is also more demanding of Australia, and it is unclear what Canberra’s thinking on this is. The United States is uninterested in being a mere balancing power in Asia – reaching some kind of modus vivendi with China and allowing a more stable multipolar system to develop. Its exceptionalism will not contemplate this alternative to primacy.
Australia’s answer to this difference between supporting a balancing role for the US and its retaining primacy is not yet clear, but a start has been made in its language over striving for “regional strategic equilibrium”. This is fundamental to determining what kind of ally Australia is, and what kind of ally America needs, in decades to come.
What multi-polar balance might that be?
China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and the Philippines all hate each other. Without a dominant naval hegemon, a nuclear arms race and regular regional wars are likely.
That hegemon is either going to remain the US or become China. Therefore, the battle at hand is ideologically existential.
The US remains engaged and liberalism prevails. Or China dominates and illiberalism marches forward as the vassal states of Asia mimic the hegemon.
Right down to our own front door. As we saw in the 14 conditions to end democracy crisis.
There is no upside in greater engagement with China.
