Australia should foster greater trust to improve ties

Australia-China relations reached a low point during COVID-19, when the Liberal Party's Scott Morrison was prime minister (2018-2022). But Anthony Albanese, the Labor Party prime minister who defeated Morrison in 2022, has been much more positive in promoting good relations between the two countries.

Albanese, who visited China in July last year and had a successful meeting with President Xi Jinping, has encouraged trade, educational and cultural relations and overall people-to-people relations. The atmosphere is certainly much brighter and more optimistic than it was.

However, the role of national security is too strong in the relationship and has long diminished mutual trust.

There is a school of thought that believes mutual trust doesn't matter in a bilateral relationship. Nevertheless, a relationship with mutual trust is stronger, better and more durable than one without, and I would like to see such a relationship between Australia and China.

The fact is that many in Australia still regard China as a threat to their country's security. Under the AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-United States) security partnership agreement, signed in 2021, Australia agreed to buy high-class nuclear-powered submarines at the cost of up to A$368 billion ($263.6 billion) over the next three decades or so. And it is not even certain that they will be built. In my view, Australia mistakenly chooses to overrely on the UK and the US, unwisely prioritizing trust in the US to the point of sacrificing its own national sovereignty.

In May, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Australia, and extensive trade, energy and defense agreements were reached. Of course, good relations between Japan and Australia are desirable, but I am very nervous about buying military hardware from a Japan that has eroded the spirit of its postwar pacifist Constitution and constantly and unfairly criticizes China.

During the Sino-US summit in May in Beijing, China put forward the vision of "constructive strategic stability". That suits Australia fine. The positive stability that should emerge in China-US relations can only benefit Australia's relations with China.

Of course, there are many other positives. China remains by far Australia's largest trade partner. China's exports to Australia include electric vehicles, and this brings the potential to save a lot in fuel costs, not to mention benefiting the environment. Australia in turn sells iron ore and agricultural products to China.

But investment is not doing so well. Although China buys 30 percent of Australia's exports, it now accounts for less than 3 percent of Australia's total foreign direct investment stock, according to a report by the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Japan, on the other hand, provides 13 percent of Australia's foreign direct investment but buys only 10 percent of Australia's exports. Why the difference? Why is Chinese investment in Australia so low? One major answer is lack of trust. In other words, many consider Chinese investment a national security threat. This is ridiculous.

Fortunately, the business community in Australia is realizing how much it is missing out on by the lack of investment from China. Whether there will be an increase is uncertain, so we'll have to wait and see. I certainly hope there will be.

According to Australia's Department of Education, there were 192,225 international students from China in Australia in October last year, which was about 23 percent of the total of 833,041 international students. Of course, there is recovery from the COVID-19 days, but it could be faster. It seems that many Chinese students are choosing to stay at home and not come to Australia, because of the rising international status of Chinese universities and the greater expense of going to Australia.

On the other hand, there are some very active programs, at Australian National University and elsewhere, for Australian students to study in China. The government-funded National Foundation for Australia-China Relations is sponsoring projects to increase the knowledge that Australians, especially young Australians, gain about China. This can only be a good thing and, together with Chinese students going to Australia, can only increase people-to-people relationships between the two countries.

There are still many problems, and I am worried by the lack of trust. But the direction is definitely upward, so we should still be optimistic about the future of Australia-China relations.

The author is an Australian Sinologist and professor emeritus at Griffith University.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.