Australia reaches out to China

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took an important step in reaching out to China, at a time when Australia was seen as belonging to the anti-China camp.

Australia is part of the trilateral military alliance comprising Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS), with the ostensible goal of building a nuclear-powered submarine for Australia. The other anti-China grouping which refuses to admit it is anti-China is the Quad, comprising Australia, Japan, India and the United States. Albanese seems to have recognised that whatever the geopolitical strategies for containing China, Australia has much to gain from bilateral trade ties with China. China is a huge market for Australian meat exports. And the Australian meat exports lobby has been pressurising its government to keep the Chinese markets open for its products. So, Albanese visiting China, the first for an Australian prime minister in seven years, was doing so to boost Australian exports to China.  On his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the Australian prime minister with open arms, and he expressed China’s willingness to build bilateral relations with Australia.

China has as much to gain from its ties with Australia as did Australia. Xi is only too aware of the American bid to isolate China in the world. And he is only too keen to build bridges with countries like Australia which are seen as close allies of America and the West. While Albanese acknowledged that whatever the differences between Australia and China, it is the mutual interests of the two countries that should be the basis of bilateral relations. Xi said that forming small cliques – he was indirectly referring to AUKUS and the Quad – cannot help face the global challenges.

The Chinese president is well aware that China can remain a world leader when it nurtures strategic ties with all countries. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an attempt to build a global trade network which would help China to expand its economic footprint. China is not ideology-bound. It is not seeking to export communism – many China-watchers would rightly point out that China had long ago abandoned communism when it embraced capitalism – and all that it wants is enlarge China’s economic sphere. In many ways, China is following the example of capitalist America. There cannot be much disapproval of Australia reaching out to China because the United States and European Union (EU) are also keeping contacts with China open and live.  But the rivalry between China and the West will continue. Albanese’s visit should not be seen as some sort of a thaw between the two sides.

The West, led by America, does not want to yield ground because it still believes that it is culturally superior. But most Asian countries, including China, view the West with cultural and intellectual disdain, especially  because of its social, cultural and economic decline. Xi and Albanese have displayed pragmatism of a rare kind. They are not saying that there are no differences between the two countries. They are realistic enough to accept that they have to deal with each other despite their differences. Most strategic experts in the West believe that there is a new Cold War between China and the West, and that there is a compulsion for America and the West to retain their technological superiority. That is why, America is trying to deny Artificial Intelligence (AI) research to China and also choke China in semiconductor manufacturing.  Beijing is thinking of ways to counter America’s trade war tactics.

Albanese’s China visit has given Xi an opportunity to keep its doors open to Western trade and technology. It is an interesting tussle between China and the West. In the past, China had kept itself aloof from the world. China has learnt that isolation is a bad idea, and that it must keep its contacts with the West open. Improving ties between China and Australia will help keep the lid on the new Cold War.