Australia-China Relations: A New Low Point?

In 2020, Australia and China relations appeared to hit new lows. Diplomatic tensions flared over a range of issues, including Australia’s unilateral calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, Beijing’s trade strikes on key industries, and raids on journalists. In Australia, concerns about foreign interference and human rights violations have encouraged an increasingly hardline anti-China stance in some quarters, including among the so-called ‘Wolverines’. In Chinese media, Australia is presented as a lackey of the United States and a satellite of American interests in the Indo-Pacific. Despite these challenges, China remains Australia’s biggest trade partner. Are Australia-China relations where they need to be? To what extent does Australia remain reliant upon trade with China? And is the Morrison government’s adoption of a more assertive, ‘sovereign first’ approach to Sino-Australian relations helpful, or likely to do more harm than good? In this La Trobe Asia webinar a panel of experts will discuss these questions. Speakers: Dr Gerald Roche (Senior Research Fellow, Politics, La Trobe University) Assistant Professor Dan Hu (Deputy Director, Australian Studies Centre, Beijing Foreign Studies University) Richard McGregor (Senior Fellow, Lowy Institute) Mike Smith (China Correspondent, Australian Financial Review) Chair: Dr Bec Strating (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) Recorded live via zoom on 11 November, 2020.