Official Aus-China Media Roundup Mar 9
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relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 – 15/03/19) 1. Can China once again rescue Australia at its hour of greatest need? 9/03/2019 John Beveridge Small Caps It is no secret that following the global financial crisis it was China’s dramatic stimulus measures – along with some of our own – that rescued Australia’s economy and kept it growing when many other economies around the world went straight into recession. […] Fortunately for the lucky country, China is once again bringing in a new stimulus plan, even though it is more targeted and smaller than the one it introduced after the GFC. China has now lowered its goal for economic growth to 6-6.5% for 2019 and is still grappling with a debt legacy and the trade stand-off with the US. However, it has also announced a big stimulus plan with a cut of 3% to the top bracket of value added tax (VAT), which will boost the manufacturing sector. Read more: https://smallcaps.com.au/can-china-once-again-rescue-australia/ 2. New Chinese laws aimed at foreign ‘discrimination’ 11/03/19 Glenda Korporaal The Australian Australian companies face Chinese retaliation under new foreign investment laws set to be passed by the National People’s Congress on Friday. China, which will be able to retaliate against countries that discriminate against Chinese firms, such as the decision by the federal government to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from supplying equipment for the next- generation 5G networks, says the laws are aimed at encouraging more foreign China Matters Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 - 15/03/19) relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship investment in China by putting foreign companies on the same footing as domestic companies in many areas. While there will still be a “negative list” of sensitive areas off limits to foreign investors, Chinese officials say the new law is designed to give foreign companies a level playing field with local companies when investing and operating in China. The new law will also explicitly ban government officials from using administrative means to force foreign companies to transfer their technology to Chinese companies. Read more (Paywall): https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/new-chinese- laws-aimed-at-foreign-discrimination/news- story/6940fb3bc85c467c6214dc82f8ecffa3 3. China trying to influence US, Australia: Trump advisor Bolton 11/03/19 SBS News US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, says China's attempts to use think tanks and non-profit organisations to influence opinion in the US and Australia "is far greater in magnitude than any other foreign effort we have seen in history". Mr Bolton also offered blunt assessments on China's island and military base building in the South China Sea and raised concerns "Manchurian" chips in Huawei technology could be activated for espionage. Mr Bolton, in a US TV interview on Sunday, said China's efforts to influence opinion in America via Confucius Centres and other ways trumped Russia's election hacking. "It really is far greater in magnitude than any other foreign effort we have seen in history to influence American opinion and it's not just confined to the United States," Mr Bolton told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo. Read more: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/china-trying-to-influence-us-australia- trump-adviser-bolton 4. China’s growing Latin America ties also matter for Australia China Matters Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 - 15/03/19) relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship 12/03/19 Erin Watson-Lynn The Interpreter When China’s increasing links to Latin America are discussed, Australia might not be the first country that comes to mind. But for Australian policy makers, Beijing’s push into Latin America matters. Australia must do more itself to strengthen its otherwise nascent relationships with the region, especially as China works to fill the vacuum left by the United States’ absence in the region. Two important developments make this need clear. It is wrong to assume that Australia is irrelevant when it comes to developments between China and Latin America more broadly. Already there are two geostrategic initiatives that link the two regions via Australia. On the east coast of Australia, is the proposed 24,000-kilometer Asia-Latin America Trans-Pacific Cable stretching from Chile to China. Huawei funded the prefeasibility study and included three possible route options. Read more: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-s-growing-latin- america-ties-also-matter-australia 5. Andrew Robb blames Turnbull and Joyce for ‘toxic’ relationship with China 12/03/19 Amy Remeikis The Guardian The former trade minister Andrew Robb, who took an $880,000 job with a Chinese company as soon as he left parliament, has blasted his former party room colleagues and Australia’s security agencies for creating a “toxic” relationship with China. Robb confirmed he had left Landbridge, which holds the lease over the Darwin port, late last year, after a health precinct project he had been working on was rejected by Beijing. Speaking to the ABC, Robb said he blamed his former parliamentary colleagues, particularly Barnaby Joyce and Malcolm Turnbull, for souring relations between China Matters Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 - 15/03/19) relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship the two nations, and said Australia’s security agencies needed to prove its claims China was a threat. Robb said the Landbridge CEO had been told “in no uncertain terms by the senior officials that unfortunately the relationship between Australia and China had become so toxic that his [the health precinct proposal] would be put in the bin”. Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/12/andrew- robb-blames-turnbull-and-joyce-for-toxic-relationship-with-china 6. Trade tensions risk Australia’s place in China beef market says new report 12/03/19 Vernon Graham Queensland Country Life China has eclipsed the United States as the world's biggest beef importer but Australia is barely treading water in the market while some of our biggest rivals are kicking major goals. That's the view of Wangaratta-based meat broker, trader and consultant, Simon Quilty, who said China had officially taken the US's crown last August as the world's dominant player in the international beef trade. "We think that is unlikely to change," he said. "Ten years ago the first question every meat trader asked when they walked into the office was 'what is the US market doing today'?" he said. Now they were asking the same question about China. He said China was now setting the world market for the lean end of the trade. More bull and cow beef which once would have been shipped to the US for hamburger mince was now being sent to China as value-added boneless cuts. Read more: https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/5949988/china- now-mr-big-of-beef-imports/?cs=4707 7. Why Canberra must reset its relationship with China 12/03/19 China Matters Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 - 15/03/19) relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship Troy Bramston The Australian When Gough Whitlam’s delegation arrived in Beijing just before midnight on July 3, 1971, it was the high point in a journey of “political adventure,” says Stephen FitzGerald. He was one of seven members of the opposition delegation and would be appointed Australia’s first ambassador to China after diplomatic relations were re-established on December 21, 1972. Few people understand China better than FitzGerald, who has worked as a diplomat, academic and business adviser. Ahead of the next federal election, he despairs that neither the Coalition nor Labor has articulated a detailed, reasoned and creative policy for managing relations with China, especially given our economy largely depends on it. […] The Australia-China relationship is at a watershed and its future form is uncertain. Later this month, the China Matters think tank will launch the next-to- final draft of Australia’s New China Narrative, which could be a useful starting point for developing a more comprehensive, coherent and constructive policy towards China. FitzGerald, who is on the board of China Matters, hopes so. Read more (Paywall): https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/troy-bramston/why- canberra-must-reset-its-relationship-with-china/news- story/ab9403cb437c2f53b68ca760609908c8 8. How and why did the Northern Territory lease the Darwin port to China, and at what risk? 12/03/19 Christopher Walsh ABC News Southern contestants on Millionaire Hot Seat don't typically get questions about Darwin correct. China Matters Media Roundup Issue 112 (09/03/19 - 15/03/19) relationship Each week China Matters collates news items about the Australia-China relationship Their knowledge of the Northern Territory is limited to crocs, fishing and oppressive heat. And so it was in June 2017, when then-federal treasurer Scott Morrison stumbled late into the office of the NT News, the Territory's paper of record, while a Millionaire Hot Seat question flashed on the screen in the biggest television in the office. It was far too difficult for $500, but Mr Morrison knew the answer all too well. The answer was Darwin. Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/why-did-northern- territory-sell-darwin-port-to-china-what-risk/10755720 9. Trump will create early tests for a new Labor government 12/03/19 Geoff Raby [Associate of China Matters] Australian Financial Review In a few months, Labor is likely to take charge of Australia's foreign policy and security.