Reassess and Readdress

By Wen Qing

W hen talking about taking a hawkish stance against China， Australias Scott Morrison administration seems to have taken things slightly further than its U.S. ally. Recently， a succession of high-ranking Australian officials， including Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo and Defense Minister Peter Dutton，“warned” that as tensions with China intensified， the “drums of war” were “beating” and conflict should not be omitted from the list of potential actions. Meanwhile， Australia also continues to develop hypersonic cruise missiles together with the U.S.， investing hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade its military bases， in a bid to “counter”China.

Such rhetoric and activity have led people to feel that this big South Pacific country is under“imminent threat” from China and must expand its armaments and prepare for war to defend itself.

However， reality holds that being geographically far removed from one another， the two countries are highly complementary trading partners. China is the largest export destination of Australia. Even in 2020， when the world struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic， Australias trade surplus with China came in around $61.4 billion， according to data from Chinas Ministry of Commerce.

Then why does the Morrison administration keep stirring up trouble with its largest buyer？ Is a confrontation with China really the right choice that will serve Australias national interests？

Behind Morrisons grudge

“Since former U.S. President Donald Trump came to power in 2016， the U.S. started to position China as a strategic competitor and launched various movements to contain Chinas development. The major shift in the U.S. approaches toward China prompted Australia to reassess its own China policy and take action to align with the American strategy，” Ning Tuanhui， an assistant research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies， said.

From then onward， several Australian politicians and media outlets have been hyping up Chinas “threat” and “infiltration.” In 2018， Australia banned Chinas hi-tech giant Huawei from building its 5G network on the counsel of U.S. security agencies. Only last year， the Morrison administration even politicized the coronavirus pandemic to promote a so-called “independent international inquiry，”joining the U.S. in its China-targeted smear campaign.

Marching to the beat of American drums has long been the national strategy of Australia. In October 2003， U.S. President George W. Bush told Australian Prime Minister John Howard that he considered Australia Americas “deputy sheriff” in the Asia-Pacific. This description perfectly pointed out how these two countries looked at each other， though the “sheriff” role was later denied by Howard due to criticism from regional countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.