BTN News: It’s a nuanced phase in Australia-China relations, amid the effort to stabilize the relationship and tensions beneath the surface. Trip down under Li Qiang’s comments came during his trip to Australia, where he called for a relationship with “stable and mature”, while Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has referred to an ongoing strategic contest between the two countries.
Ongoing Strategic Contest
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has put on the record Australia now operates in a state of “permanent contest” with China. Behind this is a decade-long buildup of tensions over trade disputes and accusations of Chinese espionage and interference in Australian politics. At the same time, the two countries have competed for influence in the Indo-Pacific, as China has moved to infringe upon territory traditionally allied with Australia.
An interview on ABC News saw Wong acknowledge the relationships have become strained over the past 10 years and cited past government policies as reasons for the current state of play. She just wish that she had a “Rewind Button” to go back and correct it, but understand that the present is the present and it still needs to be dealt with. Wong has underlined that this is a principal challenge in the long way ahead re Australia-China relations, and nowhere more than in the Pacific.
WORKING TOWARD STABILIZING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS
But despite these tensions, Premier Li Qiang has expressed hope that the split in China-France relations is healed. On his visit – China’s highest level visit to Australia in seven years – Li declared the “clouds and rainbows” in the relationship were gone. He painted Australia as an essential way-station between China and the West, built on respect, commonalities and business partnerships as the bedrock.
Li’s arrival is being trumpeted as a milestone in achieving some thaw in relations after two years of deliberate, patient work by the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. That is in sharp contrast to the previous administration, which Wong said walked away from strategically critical positions in the Pacific, paving the way for China’s to increase its influence.
Concerns Over Taiwan
Wong also told the program that she shared Australian concerns over Taiwan, pointing to greater military movements in the area as a great peril. The senator repeated Australia’s objections to any one-sided changes to the status quo and called for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This is in keeping with our national interest in regional security and avoiding escalation by accident or misunderstanding the other party’s intentions.
Trade and Economic Relations
Economically, the relationship between Australia and China is much more complicated. Australia has major economic interests in trade with China which is its leading trading partner accounting for 30% of exports last year. But trade relations between the two countries sourtcp in 2020 when China slapped Australian exports of coal, timber, barley, beef, and lobsters, as a result of Australia barring Huawei from its 5G network and leading calls for an enquiry of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. At present China has removed most of the sanctions, however it is still a touch and go situation, as further talks are held in order to solve the remaining issues.
Australia – China Relations Warming?
Although efforts are underway to stabilize and advance relations, major challenges persist between the two sides as the strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific and the Taiwan issue remain sharp. The bilateral relationship, and be it ever-so-slowly, is starting to heal from what appear to have been its worst depths in 2020, but the journey to a more secure and mature partnership is going to be a convoluted one. While both nations agree on the need for mutual respect and general cooperation, the back-bone strategic contest will continue to influence how they engage with each other in the years ahead.
