Foreign affairs

The Australian higher education sector’s engagement with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, particularly with respect to issues involving academic freedom. Most recently, following criticism by some international PRC students and state media outlets, the University of New South Wales removed an article from their website and Twitter feed that featured comments critical of Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong. Such complaints by PRC students are often alleged to involve coordination by the PRC government.

By James Laurenceson

This edition features:

- Summary and analysis of major developments in July 2020 by Elena Collinson and James Laurenceson.
- Perspectives: ‘On being 'very different countries': AUSMIN and China's rise’ by Professor James Curran. Perspectives is UTS:ACRI's monthly commentary series, featuring a piece on a topical subject in the Australia-China relationship from an invited expert contributor. 

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN JULY 2020 

By Professor James Curran

During discussions with American thinkers, analysts and officials in New York and Washington DC in late 2017, one particular conversation gave a chilling insight into how some see the ultimate strategic calculations in US-China relations.  

作者：罗震教授（James Laurenceson）

该文章于2020年8月4日发表于环球时报。

英文原版

在当前中国与美国和澳大利亚紧绷的关系下，中国指控美澳在一系列国际问题上“抹黑中国”，并要求两国“停止干涉中国内政或损害中国利益”。

中国驻堪培拉大使馆也称将“坚决否认并反对针对中国无事实依据的指控和攻击”。

然而人们也好奇，中国政府驻外的“耳目”是否意识到美国与澳大利亚在这个问题上截然不同的态度和意图。

华府和堪培拉的中国鹰派人物有充分理由为了7月28日举行的美澳部长级磋商（AUSMIN）而躁动不已。

Australia’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in recent years has been characterised by increasing levels of political friction driven by concerns around national security, human rights and sovereignty, among other issues, with Australia on the receiving end of muscular rhetoric from the PRC government and its state media outlets. In some instances, this has been punctuated by statements from the PRC government suggesting economic consequences for Australia. In April, for example, the PRC Ambassador to Australia warned that PRC consumers could boycott Australian exports

In the mid-2000s Australia had delivered a China-led mining boom that continues today. Australia’s success as a producer of raw materials such as iron ore is well known. While domestic demand is negligible, in 2019 Australia’s iron ore exports totalled $96.1 billion (Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2020). The partner that has made this possible is China, buying 82.2 percent of Australia’s exports. China has also been a major supplier of the capital needed to develop Australian mines (Ferguson et al., 2020).

Elena Collinson wrote a response to 'Beijing Calling: How China is testing the alliance', an essay by Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor International at the University of Melbourne, that was published in the July 2020 edition of Australian Foreign Affairs magazine. 

Read here.

This edition features:

- Summary and analysis of major developments in June 2020 by Elena Collinson and James Laurenceson.
- Perspectives: ‘People-to-people links: the lifeblood of the Australia-China relationship’ by Peter Osborne. Perspectives is UTS:ACRI's monthly commentary series, featuring a piece on a topical subject in the Australia-China relationship from an invited expert contributor. 

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN JUNE 2020 

By Peter Osborne

Looking for a relevant opening sentence on what individuals and businesses can do to contribute to an ongoing strong, mutually beneficial relationship between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), I stumbled across a pertinent quote from Confucius on friendships: