Australia is an important player in the political games of Asia-Pacific Region. As the New Eastern Outlook has written many times, the country’s authorities have been searching for a compromise between two increasingly divergent objectives for over 10 years.
One of them, a legacy of the Cold War, is related to the image of Australia as a “deputy sheriff” in the region. The second one is driven by the growing dependence of Australia’s economic prosperity on its economic relations with China, against which the global “sheriff’s” foreign policy is being re-targeted.
It should be noted that China ranks first in Australia’s foreign trade: Australia sells most of its iron ore – its major export product – to China. Exports to China make up 32% of the total share (Japan, in second place, makes up 16%). Yet, Australia is 14th in the list of China’s foreign trade partners.
The drama of Australia’s position in terms of foreign policy is reflected in the key issue that its politicians are asking themselves: what will we do if the USA rushes into war with China due to Taiwan or other small islands?
This question and how it may be answered are at the heart of the conflict in foreign policy between the two main parties of the country, led by the right-of-centre Liberal Party of Australia (LPA) and left-of-centre Australian Labour Party (ALP).
The first party responds thus: “Alas, we will have to join these idiots from across the ocean”, whereas the second one prefers not to pose this question in such an acute (but increasingly inevitable) form, highlighting the urgent need to develop multilateral relations with China – its nearest great neighbour.
The inter-party struggle occasionally becomes more acute, especially during the election cycle, such as during the 2016 elections to the lower house of Parliament on July 2.
They were closely monitored by Beijing, whose preference for the Australian Labour Party are quite clear. The golden age of China-Australia relations development fell on the period of ALP’s time in power (2007-2013).
It would seem that China fondly recalls the first Prime Minister of the ALP, former school teacher Kevin Rudd, a sincere enthusiast who promoted versatility in their relations.
After the defeat in the elections in 2013, the Labour Party gradually began to restore their electoral position, but on July 2, 2016, they failed to defeat the conservative bloc. The latter overcame the 50% bar in the lower house of Parliament, albeit with a struggle. This allowed the last Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to keep his position and form a government of conservatives.
It is worth noting that LPA is no less interested in maintaining economic relations with China than the Labour Party. This was clearly demonstrated during M. Turnbull visit to China three month before the elections. The entire visit, of course, affected the mood of voters, as most of them decided (unreasonably though, as it turned out) that nothing bad would happen to relations with China even under a conservative-led government. ... "
