Australia and the China Threat: managing ambiguity

ABSTRACT

A China Threat – the fear of being taken over by China and the Chinese – has been an ever present in the politics of Australia since even before there was a Commonwealth of Australia. It was both a major cause of Federation in 1901 and a determinant of Australia's foreign policy thereafter. In the last 20 years, concerns about China have come to focus less on migration and more on economic integration and China's political influence. There are as always distinct paradoxes in the China Threat. It may be a useful vehicle for making a political point at election time but China has a place in the Australian economy that has led Australia's leaders to at least modify their resistance once in office.

KEYWORDS:

• China and Australia

Disclosure statement

The author is a citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia and a resident of the People's Republic of China. He knows of no financial benefit that results from this research.

Notes

1. Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia's Trade at a Glance www.dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/trade-at-glance.

2. Australia–China trade had exceeded Australia–Japan trade in 2006, and had grown considerably thereafter.

3. See the balanced comments of John Lee on the declaration of the FTA. Lee is a noted anti-Communist, with a track record highly critical of the CCP and the PRC. John Lee ‘A reality check for the Australia–China FTA’ in 18 November 2014 The Diplomat.

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Notes on contributors

David S. G. Goodman

David S. G. Goodman is Head of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Professor of China Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou.