relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 – 17/05/19)
1. Australia and the US are old allies. China’s rise changes the equation.
11/05/19 Neil Irwin The New York Times
To understand why the Trump administration has struggled to build a global coalition of allies in its trade war with China, it helps to understand what is happening in the rolling hills and valleys of Australia’s southeast and southwest coasts.
Vineyards that once made many crisp white wines and fruity red ones popular with American buyers are now also producing more austere reds favored by a segment of a rapidly expanding market of Chinese drinkers. Since 2008, Australia’s wine exports to the United States have fallen 37 percent; exports to China have risen 959 percent.
Around the globe, longtime allies are planning for a world in which the United States is no longer the economic center. For all the frustrations of doing business with China, including opaque government action and allegations of intellectual property theft, the sheer logic of economic geography is proving more significant than historical alliances.
[…]
“Our interests are not identical to the U.S.,” Geoff Raby, a former Australian ambassador to China who advises companies doing business in the two countries, said in an interview. “That doesn’t mean we can’t have a close, warm relationship with the United States. But we cannot join the U.S. in a policy premised on China being a strategic competitor.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/upshot/australia-relationship- china-us-trade.html
Geoff Raby is an Associate of China Matters.
2. Julie Bishop splits with Scott Morrison over 'customer' view of China
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
13/05/19 Tom McIlroy Australian Financial Review
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has split with Scott Morrison over Australia’s relationship with China, rejecting the Prime Minister’s description of the country as a “customer”.
Campaigning in Sydney on Monday morning, Mr Morrison was asked his vision for Australia’s foreign policy. In a lengthy answer, he said “you stand by your friends and you stand by your customers as well”.
Later, West Australian Liberals attended a rally with Mr Morrison in Perth. Ms Bishop, who quit as foreign minister after Malcolm Trumbull’s ouster as prime minister, is leaving politics.
“I don’t see it that way at all,” Ms Bishop said.
Read more (Paywall): https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/julie-bishop- splits-with-scott-morrison-over-customer-view-of-china-20190513-p51myg
3. Why China wants Shorten to win
13/05/19 Michael Smith Australian Financial Review
An annual AFL game in Shanghai may be the unlikely setting for Labor's first China test if it wins the federal election.
While getting a federal minister on an official visit to one of the most diplomatically complex countries on Earth will be a challenge less than a fortnight after being in government, it is not impossible.
It is believed contingency plans are being drawn up to try and get the next trade minister, possibly Labor's Jason Clare or the incumbent Simon Birmingham, to China for the sporting event on June 2. Last year, Steve Ciobo became the first federal minister to turn up in China since a freeze on official visits was imposed by Beijing, a move some say the AFL helped negotiate.
[…]
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
"China might open up to a visit but ultimately for the relationship to get back into good shape, it would require things to change in a substantial policy sense," says Geoff Raby, Australia's former ambassador to China.
Read more (Paywall): https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/why-china- wants-shorten-to-win-20190509-p51lqn
Geoff Raby is an Associate of China Matters.
4. China is the sleeping giant in the federal election campaign and it's not going away
13/05/19 Stan Grant ABC News
The federal election campaign is reaching the back end, but China has finally found itself on the front page.
[…]
Just weeks ago, I attended a China "masterclass" run by our premier security think-tank — the Australian Strategic Policy Institute — and came away profoundly disturbed. It was like entering a parallel universe, a world apart from the phoney Canberra consensus that we can "have it both ways" — remain bound to America and economically tied to China.
These were people who see China up-close: journalists who had experienced first-hand the repressive regime, military analysts who know how great the risk of conflict is, economists who shiver at the prospect of a China economic melt- down, political scientists who doubt Xi Jinping can fulfil his dream of being President for life.
No doubt Paul Keating would have accused them all of being "berko" China fear- mongers, but these were some of the best China brains in the business.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-13/federal-election-china- sleeping-giant/11102342
5. China's activities in key marginal seat affect Labor, Liberal candidates
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
13/05/19 Farrah Tomazin and Nick McKenzie The Sydney Morning Herald
The Chinese Communist Party has sought to build ties to candidates in the upcoming federal election, including in a critical Victorian seat that will help determine the next government.
Chinese language documents have revealed the ALP’s Jennifer Yang and the Liberal Party’s Gladys Liu — who are contesting the eastern Melbourne electorate of Chisholm — have both attended events and been involved in groups backed by the Chinese government.
The groups seek to push the Communist Party’s agenda throughout the Chinese diaspora.
[…]
Last month for instance, Labor’s Senate candidate for NSW, Jason Yat-sen Li, called for Parliament to adopt targets for ethnic representation, saying Chinese Australians had been muzzled by allegations of foreign political interference out of fear of being labelled "a stooge for the Communist Party".
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/china-s-activities-in- key-marginal-seat-affect-labor-liberal-candidates-20190510-p51lzf.html
Jason Yat-sen Li is a member of the China Matters Advisory Council.
6. Agribusiness leader sees China trade boost in Labor victory
13/05/19 Brad Thompson Australian Financial Review
Elders managing director Mark Allison says a change in federal government may work in favour of farmers and Australian agriculture by boosting access to the Chinese market.
Mr Allison said the agriculture sector would benefit from a more pragmatic approach to China and an open mind on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, two things that appear more likely under Labor rule.
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
“In terms of our relationship with China, it seems that the opposition may have that more pragmatic view, which is something we would appreciate in agriculture,” he said.
“At a federal level, we haven’t embraced the Belt and Road Initiative and seem to have viewed it more as a geopolitical play.”
Read more (Paywall): https://www.afr.com/business/agriculture/agribusiness- leader-sees-china-trade-boost-in-labor-victory-20190512-p51mg5
7. Australia struggles for clarity on the South China Sea
14/05/19 Iain Henry The Interpreter
Voters should know if their next government will conduct freedom of navigation operations in contested waters.
The Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor has noted the absence of China discussion in Australia’s current election campaign, a state of affairs which prompted his colleague Sam Roggeveen to observe that “Bipartisanship on China is becoming a form of collusion”. Given that the Coalition seems to have decided against participating in a debate on foreign affairs, it is unlikely that the Australian electorate will learn anything more prior to Saturday 18 May when the polls open.
However, this is not to say that the Coalition and Labor have identical policies on, or approaches towards, relations with the People’s Republic of China. One crucial aspect of this is Australia’s response to China’s expansion and coercion in the South China Sea. In mid-2016 the former Shadow Defence Minister, Stephen Conroy, said that Australia would have “failed the test” if it did not stand up to Chinese “bullying” in the South China Sea. He advocated authorising the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to conduct a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-claimed features there. In October 2016, the current Shadow Defence Minister – Conroy’s successor, Richard Marles – echoed this suggestion, saying that the RAN should be “fully authorised” to conduct such FONOPs.
Read more: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australia-struggles- clarity-south-china-sea
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
8. Outlet barred from Labor press conference for ‘anti-China’ stance
14/05/19 Heidi Han The Australian
Labor has reached out to a Chinese-language news outlet which was barred from an ALP press conference by a third party organising the event for being “anti-China.”
Organisers of a Chinese-language press conference for Labor’s Banks candidate Chris Gambian, Chinese internet company NetEase, confirmed they barred the Vision China Times in Australia for their stance on the Chinese Government.
But Mr Gambian’s campaign did not know about the ban on the Vision Times and will now sit down with the outlet.“
[…]
Bill Shorten and the Opposition have worked to win back Chinese voters in Sydney, after former NSW ALP leader Michael Daley’s claims Asians were taking young Sydneysiders’ jobs derailed the party.
Read more (Paywall): https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/outlet- barred-from-labor-press-conference-for-antichina-stance/news- story/310383aea418efdf97020d4580e8b61d
9. Chinese buyers shun Australian property, look to Serbia
14/05/19 Su-Lin Tan Australian Financial Review
When Chinese property selling platform ACProperty.com.au co-founder Esther Yong first started advertising residential property to Chinese investors, she never thought inquiries for Australian housing from China would dry up.
After the boom selling-frenzy years between 2012 and 2017, Chinese buyer inquiries for Australian housing have slowed to a trickle.
They are now asking her for homes to buy in Serbia.
[…]
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
The Chinese capital withdrawal is stark, Ms Yong says. The main reasons for the ongoing retreat from Australia are high stamp duty and scrutiny from the Foreign Investment Review Board. In almost every state, foreign buyers of property are required to pay a surcharge.
Read more: https://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/chinese-buyers-say-no- to-australian-property-looks-to-serbia-20190513-p51mx7
10. Bill Shorten Wants Australia to Embrace China. But at What Cost?
15/05/19 Jamie Tarabay The New York Times
SYDNEY, Australia — In a recent online discussion, Bill Shorten, the front-runner in the race to be Australia’s next prime minister, left little doubt about where he stood on the politically delicate issue of relations with China — and where the world’s other superpower fit into his calculus.
“If I’m P.M., I welcome the rise of China in the world,” he said in a post on the Chinese social media platform WeChat that was aimed at Australia’s 1.2 million voters of Chinese descent. Mr. Shorten, the leader of the center-left Labor Party, added that he saw China not as a “strategic threat,” but as a “strategic opportunity.”
Those words put him directly at odds with the Trump administration, which has sounded alarms about China’s global ambitions and tactics. But Mr. Shorten, while acknowledging that Australia would always be an ally of the United States, declared that it was time for his nation “to stand on its own feet and think for itself.”
If Mr. Shorten’s party prevails in Saturday’s election, his embrace of China would represent a significant break from the current conservative Australian government, which has taken a harder line toward Beijing’s growing influence in the country and whose leader, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is an avowed admirer of President Trump. It could also signify a crack in the united front that the Trump administration is trying to build to check China’s ascent.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/world/australia/bill- shorten.html
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
11. US Navy chief would welcome Australian, Indonesian action in South China Sea
16/05/19 James Massola Sydney Morning Herald
Jakarta: The US Navy's operations chief would like Australian and Indonesian maritime forces to have a greater presence in the disputed South China Sea, including by sailing controversial freedom of navigation operations.
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said on Thursday that each nation in south-east Asia had to determine its own response to China's moves to militarise disputed islands in the South China Sea.
But asked by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald whether Australia, Indonesia and other states in the region should conduct freedom of navigation operations to challenge China's claim of sovereignty, he said navies are "meant to get underway".
"I think every nation is going to have to assess the situation and their own approach. But at some point navies are meant to get under way and be present and provide options to their [countries'] leadership," he said.
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/us-navy-chief-would-welcome- australian-indonesian-action-in-south-china-sea-20190515-p51nt9.html
12. Scott Morrison makes fresh play for influential Chinese vote
16/05/19 Eryk Bagshaw The Sydney Morning Herald
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a last-minute pitch to Chinese voters, swooping into Sydney's Chinatown in a bid to shore up support for three candidates whose futures could hinge on the influential community.
Flanked by Immigration Minister David Coleman, Bennelong MP John Alexander and the Liberal Party's candidate for the crucial seat of Reid Fiona Martin, Mr Morrison pitched a message of unity after years of diplomatic tension between Australia and the Chinese Communist Party last year culminated in Parliament
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
passing laws to ban foreign donations and crackdown on foreign interference in domestic politics.
Mr Morrison appealed to the aspirations of Chinese families, tying in the Coalition’s central election theme of economic growth through business investment and perseverance.
"I know of no community who is more passionate about what they want to leave to their children," the Prime Minister said.
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/pm-makes-fresh- play-for-influential-chinese-vote-20190515-p51nrg.html
13. Australia should look to US bill to stop the transfer of sensitive technology to the Chinese military
16/05/19 Alex Joske The Strategist (ASPI)
A bill introduced to the United States Congress is an important step towards limiting the transfer of sensitive technology to China’s People’s Liberation Army. The PLA Visa Security Act would ban the issuing of student and visiting scholar visas to individuals affiliated with the Chinese military. This comes after a report ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre published last year, Picking flowers, making honey, found that the PLA has sent more than 2,500 officers and cadres to study science and engineering abroad, some of whom actively hid their military ties.
The issues raised here are global—large numbers of PLA scientists have been sent to Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom—so the bill recommends that all Five Eyes countries pursue similar measures to address the problems posed by PLA scientists working and training in the West.
The growing recognition of the Chinese Communist Party’s global ambitions has had major implications for the use of technologies like 5G—just look at the recent controversies over Huawei in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. While they scrutinise Chinese companies and their products, many countries are also exploring better ways to prevent sensitive technologies from being exported to and used by China. In November, the US government announced a review of export controls for emerging technologies like artificial
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)
relationship
Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship
intelligence, hypersonics and advanced materials. Australia also conducted an independent review of defence trade controls that was released in February.
Read more: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-should-look-to-us-bill-to- stop-the-transfer-of-sensitive-technology-to-the-chinese-military/
China Matters Media Roundup Issue 121 (11/05/19 - 17/05/19)