Opinion | China and Australia may bicker, but they will never actually divorce

John Power says even as Canberra sounds the alarm over Chinese interference, exchanges of goods, tourists and students are increasing unabated. It’s therefore no surprise that Australia wants nothing to do with the US trade war

Reading Time:3 minutes

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attends the Australia China Business Council’s 2018 Canberra Networking Day event at Parliament House in Canberra on June 19. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:00am, 15 Aug 2018Updated: 7:56am, 15 Aug 2018

Australian-China relations are going through something of a rocky patch. Ever since Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull proposed new laws targeting foreign interference, the two countries have stumbled from one public spat to another.

When Turnbull singled out alleged Chinese meddling in domestic affairs as a justification for the legislation late last year, Beijing accused Australia, a key ally of the United States, of harbouring a “cold war mentality” and summoned its ambassador in protest. Then came reports that Beijing had started refusing visas to Australian ministers in retaliation.

Although Turnbull sought to play down claims of a deep freeze in relations, commentary in some Chinese state-run media suggested otherwise. In a pugnacious editorial published in May, The Global Times went as far as describing China’s relations with Australia as “among the worst of all Western nations”.

Britain might send aircraft carrier to back Australian vessels in South China Sea

Even as Australia and China have attempted to mend fences by ramping up diplomacy in recent weeks, new tensions have emerged. Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop expressed concern that massive lending by China to small South Pacific island nations could leave them burdened with unsustainable debt, threatening their sovereignty.

Bishop made it clear that Australia, which recently agreed to fund most of the cost of an undersea internet cable to the Solomon Islands specifically to prevent Chinese involvement, saw itself as the natural partner of countries in the region.

China: the real reason Australia’s pumping cash into the Pacific?

China’s foreign ministry fired back at the “wrong remarks of the Australian side”, insisting it was assisting the economic development of independent nations in accordance with their wishes.

With all this bickering lately, it might seem like Australia and China, which have had formal diplomatic ties since 1972, are on the verge of becoming outright enemies, if they aren’t already.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x