Foreign affairs

ACRI Prime Ministers Series: Keating and China

On August 30 2016 the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney presented the fourth instalment of our 'Prime Ministers Series': devoted to the China policies of former Australian Prime Ministers.Paul Keating was Prime Minister from December 1991 until March 1996.

Mr Keating’s emphasis, as Treasurer and as Prime Minister, was on improving the competitiveness of Australian industry in a global market. 

On July 12 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on a dispute between the Philippines and China over territorial claims in the South China Sea and found in favour of the Philippines.

Freedom of Navigation Operations

On June 14 the Australia-China Relations Institute hosted a roundtable on the US-China bilateral relationship with US Embassy Canberra Political Counselor Robert D. Lee.

Roundtable participants were:

- Alan Bloomfield, VC’s Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales

- James Curran, Professor, Department of History, University of Sydney

- Philipp Ivanov, CEO, Asia Society Australia

- Jeffrey Riegel, Emeritus Professor & Director, China Studies Centre, University of Sydney

Following the success of our Ambassadors’ Panel in Canberra earlier this year the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) was delighted to welcome Ross Garnaut in conversation with Bob Carr at the National Library of Australia as part of our Ambassadors’ Series.

On May 5 Australia-China Relations Institute Director Bob Carr interviewed Linda Jakobson on China’s aspirations in 2016 and the implications for Australia. 

In an in-depth discussion, Linda explored the big questions of what China wants: what international role China aspires to, what China's intentions in the South China Sea are and how China will shape the region in the coming years. She assessed China's role as a foreign policy actor, covering Central Asia, the East China Sea and South China Sea as well as China's multilateral engagement and relationship with the US.

By Elena Collinson

Note: This article originally appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, April 21 2016. 

China doesn't figure big in this US presidential campaign despite the country being America's largest trading partner, with trade totalling $600 billion a year.

A report commissioned by ACRI spells out the UK's pragmatic China policy.

The UK was the first western country to sign up to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It aims to become the world's leading RMB trading hub. In 2015 President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister David Cameron signed more than 40 billion pounds worth of deals.

The report finds that the UK is running a decidedly pragmatic China policy based on its national interests, aimed at securing the economic opportunities China presents.

Author: Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute and Professor of Chinese Studies, King's College London

The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney was delighted to host our Canberra supporters at the second ‘Ambassadors Series’ panel event featuring former Australian Ambassadors to China David Irvine and Ric Smith.

David Irvine was Australian Ambassador to China 2000-2003. He was Director General of ASIS 2003-2009, Director General of ASIO 2009-2014 and has recently been appointed to the Foreign Investment Review Board.

This journal article was published in the Australian Journal of International Affairs, 70:1, 1-5.

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