ASPI releases: A rising power looks down under: Chinese perspectives on Australia

Thursday 6th March 2014– The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has today released a Strategy Report by Dr Jingdong Yuan: A rising power looks down under: Chinese perspectives on Australia. Click here to download a PDF copy of the report. 

Sino-Australian diplomatic, economic and security ties have experienced significant growth over the past four decades. The general trends have been positive, especially in the economic area, where the two countries have developed strong and mutually beneficial interdependence. However, bilateral relations periodically encounter difficulties and occasionally suffer major setbacks, largely due to differences in ideologies and sociopolitical systems, issues such as Tibet, Taiwan and human rights, and emerging challenges ranging from cybersecurity to the geostrategic shift in the region marked by China’s rise and the US’s rebalancing to Asia.

While there have been substantive debates in Australia on the implications of China’s rise, much less is known about Chinese perspectives on Australia.

To help understand Chinese views of Australia, the paper develops its analysis by drawing from four main sources:

·         official Chinese documents and leaders’ statements as reported in the media or recorded in official dossiers

·         academic analyses published in scholarly journals

·         media coverage of Sino-Australian relations and Australian issues in general

·         a series of interviews the author has conducted with specialists in Chinese think tanks and academic institutions.

Chinese analysts are paying closer attention not only to Australia–US relations, but also to Australia’s aspirations and role as a proactive and creative middle power in regional and global affairs, especially where Canberra’s diplomacy affects issues important to Beijing. Those areas range from nuclear arms control and disarmament, humanitarian interventions and trade negotiations to maritime territorial disputes.

China’s rise offers opportunities as much as it presents challenges to Australian foreign policy.

Australia needs a stable international environment and continued economic growth. A realistic, stable, and forward-looking relationship with China is imperative.

The paper says the Abbott government should have a China policy that’s the result of multi-agency consultation, bipartisan support and internal cohesion within the Coalition and is presented in a unified voice. Canberra should be results-oriented and problem-solving to promote national interests and place less emphasis and diplomatic capital on merely making political statements and grandstanding, which mightn’t be as effective as wished for and, at worst, could be counterproductive.

Dr Jingdong Yuan is Associate Professor at the Centre for International Security Studies and the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, where he is also an academic member of the China Studies Centre.