As China tensions mount, Australia’s dovish voices calling for engagement are fading away
- With Beijing continuing to exert pressure on Australia, voices urging an understanding of China are fading from the national conversation
- Observers are not banking on a thaw in relations any time soon given that China now sees Australia as ‘firmly in the US camp’, says an analyst
Kerry Stokes, one of the country’s richest tycoons, used a front page interview in the April 30 edition of the West Australian newspaper he owns to warn against poking “our biggest provider of income in the eye”, while mining magnate Andrew Forrest called for any investigation to be delayed.
Former foreign ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans criticised Canberra for creating unnecessary tensions by turning an otherwise reasonable search for answers into a public spectacle, instead of engaging in quiet diplomacy. In Victoria, meanwhile, state treasurer Tim Pallas accused the federal government of vilifying the country’s largest trading partner and leaving local exporters to deal with the inevitable fallout.
But as Beijing has continued to ramp up the pressure on key sectors of Australia’s economy, voices urging understanding of China’s position have all but evaporated from a national conversation that has long been informed by both hawkish and dovish sentiment.
