On China policy, Australia needs to listen to local Chinese

With due deference to sinologists and sinocrats, I’d urge Canberra to consult long-homed Chinese-Australians on its China policy (“Fears of China and WeChat as Australia votes”, May 16). Heated discussions about Australia-China relations could benefit from the input of the sizeable Chinese expatriate community caught in the middle.

Chinese-Australians have yet to voice their views on the combustible state of play where Canberra’s attitude to Beijing vacillates between friendship and fractious divorce. My belief is that Australia’s roller-coaster reaction to China’s rapid ascent in its South Pacific backyard is driven by fears of being interfered with and spied upon, at the risk of causing offence and endangering Australia’s prosperity, which is underpinned by cultivating China’s largesse.

China’s burgeoning clout over Australia’s prosperity and security predictably sparks off opposite urges. Australia’s engagement as a junior trading partner of China’s fuels our economy, yet we remain steadfast in our assertions that we must resist suspected infiltration by the “waking dragon”, an emerging force culturally remote from, and thereby posing a threat to, our way of life.

Diasporic Chinese are hindered in their ambition to engage in public discourse on China’s geopolitical ascent by the potential of bodily and personal harm unleashed by a surge in divisive sentiments. Whatever our stance on China, Chinese-Australians risk inflaming communal anger driven by suspicions of disloyalty to the countries we call home. But it’s about time we had our say.

Joseph Ting, Brisbane