Australia’s delicate position between China and US

Amid polite but slightly chilly applause, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr wrapped up his four-day swing through China recently.

His was the first official trip to China by an Australian foreign minister since Kevin Rudd visited Shanghai Expo in 2010 and, as the new foreign minister, Carr wanted to cement Australia's relationship with its biggest trading partner on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

But this trip looked more like a courtesy call. And not many members of the media covered the visit. The old con-tentious arguments were still there, just being reiterated.

Since late last year, China-Australia tensions began simmering when Australia agreed that up to 2,500 United States Marines could be stationed in Darwin. It was an obvious move to cooperate with the US policy of containment against the rise of China in Asia.

Of course, China was not happy with that. The Chinese government exercised great forbearance, ridiculing the fact that Australia still clung to a "Cold War mentality". During Carr's three high-level meetings in Beijing, Chinese counterparts told him clearly: the time for Cold War alliances has long since passed.

I think the moderate response of the Chinese government was pointedly rational and insightful. On the contrary, many Chinese netizens delivered a rebuke when Australia agreed to allow an American military presence there, and vented their anger on the net. Compared to Chinese responses, outsized debates were swirling in Australia, either in newspapers or on TV programs, over how to position Australia between the US and China, cautioning that Australia should find a balance somewhere between the increasing rivalry of the two great powers.

Up to now, there has only been rhetoric, still far short of a policy move. For all that, it underscores that Australia is very mindful of Chinese retaliatory reactions and makes many conciliatory gestures.

Australia has its own ambitions on the world stage, that of a middle power diplomacy aiming to project Australia as an important and responsible player across the globe. Rudd's idea to make Australia a "bridge" between China and the West looked overblown and aggressive. However, it suggested at least that Australia had the impulse to play a larger-than-life role to meet its ambition as a middle power.

We should recognize this deep psychology of Australia, and its bottom line in dealing with its strategic affairs. After all, Australia is a member country of the Anglo-Saxons group, sharing the same ancestors with the US. The Anglo-Saxons have five brother countries in the world: the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Though sometimes they have feuds, even fiercely, the blood affinity determines that they definitely become allies to deter foreign threats. The so-called shift of hegemony from the British Empire to the United States was nothing more than the power shift inside a family, rather than between countries, as we have defined in a number of commentaries.

As a result, any suggestion that Australia should walk away from its alliance with the US is absurd. As Carr said in his meetings with his Chinese counterparts: "It gives me an opportunity to explain why it is that the American treaty relationship is part of Australia's DNA."

The recent public comments on Carr's visit to China, spoken by a prominent Chinese defense strategist, said: "Canberra must pick a strategic godfather between China and the US." In my view, it is arrogant, ignorant and irresponsible, showcasing the increasing self-centeredness and even chauvinism in the minds of some Chinese on the background of China's rise.

Australia has its own history and dignity. I think it is not gentlemanly to use economic interests to coerce something. Otherwise, the relationship will go wrong in the long term. The recent antagonism of the Philippines in the South China Sea put the weak sides of Chinese diplomacy in the spotlight, though the Philippines was rude and unreasonable on this matter. China should keep a low profile, as Deng Xiaoping instructed, to calm any nerves of neighboring countries and focus on its domestic affairs.

It is clear that Australia acknowledges the importance of China, urging itself to catch up with the bullet train of China's economics. It is time for China to take the upper hand in the bilateral relationship, especially against the backdrop of the global financial meltdown and the European debt crisis. Nonetheless, we should avoid any overblown or arrogant remarks, and seek to fine-tune policies for mutual benefit. Otherwise, it is easy to incur mistrust, misperception and even miscalculation.