Foreign affairs

On February 10-11 2017 the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney in collaboration with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore co-hosted a conference on the South China Sea (SCS).

From April 6-7 2017 Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump met for the first time since Mr Trump’s inauguration. The Xi-Trump summit took place at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Both Chinese and international media acknowledge there were few tangible outcomes from the Xi-Trump summit. However, the cordial tone and lack of controversy are generally considered positive steps towards ameliorating tensions in US-China relations during the first months of the Trump administration.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Australia from March 22-26, attending official events and dialogues in both Canberra and Sydney. It was the first visit of a Chinese Premier to Australia in 11 years.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Australian Financial Review, March 22 2017.

When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Australia on Wednesday night, he and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will celebrate an economic relationship that is deeper and broader than ever before. 

By Bob Carr

Note: This article appeared in The Australian, March 18 2017.

It’s a reasonable bet Australians would be more comfortable with a democratic China; that is, a China boasting competing political parties in an elected legislature, buttressed by robust freedom of expression.

On March 3 2017 former Australian Prime Minister John Howard addressed an audience in Sydney at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) annual Economic and Political Overview event.

Among other things he offered his assessment of the Australia-China and Australia-US relationships in the context of the new Trump administration.

Mr Howard said Australia’s policy toward China ‘should essentially be a continuation of what it’s been to date’, that Australia should not be forced to choose between the United States and China:[1]

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in the March 2017 edition of U:Mag.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound blog, March 2 2017.

What do Chinese media and commentators make of Trump? This ACRI survey goes beyond the English-language Global Times to look at a range of Chinese sources. The overwhelming impression: restraint.

‘One China’ policy

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound blog, February 15 2017.