‘China wants to lead, rather than simply join’: top Australian diplomat takes aim at Beijing’s foreign policy

Name: Australia ditched diplomacy for ‘adversarial approach’ to China and ‘a pat on the head’ from US
Uploaded: 2020-11-25T11:59:18.000Z
Duration: 7 min 55 s
Description: Australia ditched diplomacy for ‘adversarial approach’ to China and ‘a pat on the head’ from US

Frances Adamson has accused Beijing of setting its own agenda internationally rather than working collaboratively with other countries

She says the main challenge for Australia is helping to shape a new global order without the influence of an inwardly focused US

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Frances Adamson said it was not clear Beijing had “carefully considered other countries’ reactions to its conduct internationally”. Photo: Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

John Power

Published: 7:59pm, 25 Nov 2020Updated: 7:15am, 26 Nov 2020

Australia’s top-ranking foreign affairs bureaucrat has issued a thinly veiled swipe at China for blocking Australian exports, accusing Beijing of disregarding international perceptions as it wields an increasingly assertive foreign policy.

Frances Adamson, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Wednesday said while the world had done a “lot of thinking about China’s power, and what it means”, it was not clear Beijing had “carefully considered other countries’ reactions to its conduct internationally”.

“China may have reached a point where it believes that it can largely set the terms of its future engagement with the world,” said Adamson, who was speaking at the National Security College of Australian National University in Canberra. “If it has, I believe it is mistaken – and that is because there is far more to be gained for China, and for everyone else, through working constructively and collaboratively within the international system, without resort to pressure or coercion.”

China wants to lead, rather simply join, international institutions

Adamson, a former ambassador to Beijing who has also served postings in Hong Kong and Taiwan, said that while China’s “impressive” economic development had generated economic benefits for countries including Australia, it had also brought disruption to the region.

“Unsurprisingly, this has also meant that China wants to set, rather than merely adopt, international standards,” said Adamson, who was speaking at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the National Security College. “China wants to lead, rather simply join, international institutions.”

07:55

Australia ditched diplomacy for ‘adversarial approach’ to China and ‘a pat on the head’ from US

Adamson also rejected suggestions that Canberra took policy directions from Washington, its main security ally, saying it was not “surprising that countries with similar values will come to similar conclusions”.

“That stands to reason, but the order in which we do it, the pace at which we do it, the actual decisions themselves are based on national interests and are based on thorough discussion and consideration of all elements of decisions through the proper processes,” she said.