Chinese language supporters rally exterior Parliament Home throughout the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay via Canberra, Australia on April 24, 2008.
Torsten Blackwood | AFP | Getty Photos
SINGAPORE — Australia and China want to seek out frequent floor regardless of their variations, because the financial relationship between the 2 is a vital one, mentioned John Howard, former Australian prime minister.
“The connection economically between Australia and China is essential, and there are tensions in that relationship and so they should be attended to,” Howard mentioned on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Singapore Summit.
The connection between the 2 nations has been fraught with pressure, with Beijing launching an investigation into some wine imports from Australia final month, following actions on other commodity imports.
“I definitely do not assume in any means Australia ought to get right into a scenario of giving up on its relationship with China; it is crucial to us. Our commodity exports (like) iron ore, coal and the likes are crucial to the Australian financial system,” mentioned Howard, who was in workplace from 1996 to 2007.
China is one in every of Australia’s key buying and selling companions, with the Asian financial powerhouse shopping for a lot of the commodity merchandise produced Down Underneath.
The current downward spiral within the China-Australia relationship was triggered by Canberra’s call for an international probe into the origins of the coronavirus, which was first reported within the Chinese language metropolis of Wuhan.
Howard didn’t point out the probe, however emphasised the necessity for Australia to take a balanced method to its relationship with China — whilst tensions between the U.S. — Canberra’s closest ally — and China simmer.
“I do not assume we should always permit ourselves to be outlined by whom to assist between China and the USA. We are able to have good relations with each of these nations, albeit of a unique form, as a result of we’re completely different societies,” he mentioned.
“I see the the bilateral relationship between Australia and China as one thing that now we have to take care of and nurture in keeping with our personal specific pursuits, all the time remembering, after all, that we’re a part of a bunch of Western nations that consider in some elementary values,” Howard added.
As a substitute, Australia and China want to seek out some consensus despite their completely different histories and political techniques, he mentioned.
“It is tremendously essential in these tough instances, notably in opposition to the background of the pandemic, to take a balanced method, to attempt to discover areas of frequent settlement,” mentioned Howard.
As for points surrounding commodities like wine, Howard mentioned to “let the method work, let’s not over-dramatize among the variations which might be rising.”
China’s authoritarian regime ‘a truth of life’
Howard mentioned that though China has taken a extra assertive stance internationally since President Xi Jinping took workplace, its inside political system hasn’t modified that a lot — it is simply being extra rigorously enforced now than previously.
“China has been, ever since 1949, an authoritarian nation run by the Chinese language Communist Social gathering, and that is a truth of life, now we have to work inside that,” he added.
“You possibly can’t anticipate a rustic that has a essentially completely different political system to agree to vary that system, it’s important to reside with that — with out conceding, after all, any floor on issues which might be essential to our personal values,” he mentioned.
So as an alternative of irritating the financial ties between the 2 nations, Australia must work to keep up its elementary values whereas preserving the mutual advantages of the financial relationship with China.
“It’s extra than simply frequent sense, it is a matter of long-term wise coverage,” he mentioned.
