Strength and strains as China, Australia mark 45 years of ties

China and Australia officially established diplomatic ties on December 21, 1972. The two countries have grown close, economically and culturally, over the intervening 45 years, but there have also been recent strains in the relationship.

“Mutual interests and people-to-people links are so strong and so powerful now, you can’t disengage,” Rowan Callick, the China correspondent for Australia’s biggest selling newspaper, The Australian, told CGTN.

The Australian government, however, is reshaping its relationship with China as it fears losing the US as a security backbone. The US is promoting its concept of the Indo-Pacific region – a strategy to contain China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific.

“What's happened in the recent period is the concern in Australia on what America is doing. Is American pulling back? Therefore, the rhetoric we are using is trying to encourage America to come in,” said Greg McCarthy, professor of Australian politics at the University of Western Australia.

Ties between China and Australia have been strained in recent months. In early December, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced several new laws to prevent political interference from foreign countries.

While the laws didn't target China alone, Australian media have linked incidents involving Chinese students studying in Australia and Chinese businessmen's donations to Australian political parties with the new laws. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on December 5 that China has no interest in interfering with Australian politics.

As the political tension rises, many are concerned with what the worst scenario could be. Yet, many still have the confidence that the two countries can figure things out given the close economic and people-to-people links.

China has become Australia’s largest trade partner. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the country exported 57.36 billion US dollars’ worth of goods to China from January to September in 2017, accounting for one third of Australia’s total exports in the first nine months.

In addition, Australia imported 34.71 billion US dollars’ worth of goods from China in the same period, taking up 21 percent of the total amount of imports Australia needed in the first nine months – double the amount from the US.

Australia is also a popular destination for Chinese students studying aboard and China is the second largest overseas destination for Australian students.

“At the official level, the political level, it is important for the people in our country and in China to work out ways to understand each other better,” Callick said.

(CGTN)