Research reports

The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) in partnership with National Australia Bank (NAB) have published the first-ever report comparing attitudes of Chinese and Australian business leaders towards bilateral engagement.

Two polls were conducted in parallel, with NAB surveying 580 Australian business leaders and ACRI surveying 1000 Chinese-resident business leaders. The findings were then analysed and compared, resulting in the new Australia-China Business Engagement Index which will be updated bi-annually.

The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) in partnership with National Australia Bank (NAB) have published the first-ever report comparing attitudes of Chinese and Australian business leaders towards bilateral engagement.

Two polls were conducted in parallel, with NAB surveying 580 Australian business leaders and ACRI surveying 1000 Chinese-resident business leaders. The findings were then analysed and compared, resulting in the new Australia-China Business Engagement Index which will be updated bi-annually.

This audit of the Australia-China relationship, commissioned by the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney, reveals that Australia’s bilateral economic, diplomatic, cultural and defence ties with China are, overall, solid in comparison with those of Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the US. On no criteria included in this paper did Australia score exceptionally badly — as can be seen in Appendix: Companion Table.

Malcom Fraser was Prime Minister from November 1975 to March 1983. In June 1976 his first extended overseas visit as Prime Minister was to Japan and China rather than to Britain or the United States.

Fraser had a history of hostility towards China as a Liberal backbencher and then as Minister for the Army and Minister for Defence. As Prime Minister, Fraser pursued the relationship between Australia and China as a priority, marking the beginning of bipartisanship in Australia’s China policy.

This policy paper is the first comprehensive account of a diplomatic success story: the relationship between New Zealand and China in trade, investment and foreign policy.

New Zealand runs a successful China policy, putting its national interests before the comfort of “likeminded” positions and moving quickly and independently to conclude agreements with China with big benefits. It was the first to sign a high-quality, comprehensive FTA with China and the first to recognise China as a market economy.

On June 4 2015 the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney presented the second instalment of our ‘Prime Ministers Series’. The Hon. Bob Hawke AC was Prime Minister from December 1983 to December 1991. He was Australia’s longest serving Labor Prime Minister, with four terms in office.

Mr Hawke discussed Australia’s burgeoning relationship with China during his time in as Prime Minister and contemporary developments in Chinese diplomacy with renowned journalist and broadcaster Geraldine Doogue.

Although Australia and China’s bilateral relations were formally established in 1972, Gough Whitlam initiated the process in 1971 as Opposition Leader. Mr Whitlam gathered a team and journeyed to China to be the first Australian delegation received by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

It was a political risk in the face of staunch anti-Communist sentiments and the McMahon Government’s unwillingness to recognise China, ut Gough Whitlam had the foresight to envision the mutual benefits that would ensue.

This paper starts from the premise that insufficient attention has been given to the potential ramifications for Australia of conflict in the East China Sea, particularly in terms of whether Australia’s alliance obligations with the United States could embroil Canberra in a conflict. The paper is motivated in part by Defence Minister Johnston’s June 2014 remarks stating that the ANZUS alliance would not commit Australia to a conflict where the US had sent forces to support Japan.