How Australians can repair Rio-tinted relations

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By Wang Hui (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-03 17:13

Australia has aroused a greater interest among our countrymen in recent years. Those with a bulging wallet want to have a glimpse of its sunny beaches and unique fauna and flora. Devoted parents are competing with one another to send their children there for what they believe to be better education. The thousands of miles of the Pacific separating our two countries have not daunted them from pursuing these goals.

Apart from helping propel the country's tourism and education sectors, the large influx of Chinese also shows that an increasing number of our countrymen believe there is a stable and cordial relationship between China and the country that is home to fascinating animals such as koalas and kangaroos.

The weather is still pleasant in the southern hemisphere, and the beautiful flowers that grow in Australia can still be a feast for the eyes of Chinese holiday-makers. But the number of Chinese tourists this time has not increased like before. In fact, statistics show that in the past three months Chinese tourist visa applications for the biggest island country has dropped 80 percent.

Mounting safety concerns, because of a spate of attacks targeting overseas, including Chinese, students in cities like Melbourne and Sydney in the past few months will very likely scare away potential Chinese students in great numbers in the future.

All these are largely repercussions of a political tension between the two countries, for which Australia should be held accountable.

No sooner had Rio Tinto's China executive Stern Hu, an Australian citizen, been arrested in China for alleged commercial espionage than a storm of anti-China sentiment hit Australia.

Only a little bit of patience and time will reveal the entire picture of how Stern Hu bribed his way into China's iron and steel sector as the case has entered legal proceedings in China.

But politicians and opinion leaders in Australia have been too self-opinionated to wait. Jumping on the bandwagon of one-liners, they competed with one anther to whip up the strongest anti-China chorus in years, pointing an accusing finger at China's political, legal and economic systems.

If newspaper articles with headlines such as "Who is Hu? A man of integrity" constitute a funny and weak way of exculpating Stern Hu of the charges leveled against him by China, other opinion pieces like "China should privatize State-owned companies", "Don't kowtow to Beijing bully" and "No need to be concerned about hurting China's feelings" are brazen interference in China's political and economic systems and an insult to Chinese people.

These attacks have vitiated the atmosphere, soured bilateral relations and aggravated political tension between the two countries.

While Australian politicians and media continued their attack against China, Sino-Australian relations suffered a further blow after Canberra granted a visa to some Xinjiang separatists, totally disregarding Beijing's opposition.

The Xinjiang separatists organized the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Though the riots lasted just a couple of days and order was restored soon, the brutal violence claimed the lives of nearly 200 innocent people.

By providing the Xinjiang separatists an international platform to perform their anti-China farce, Canberra may have tried to seek revenge for the arrest of Stern Hu. But this ill-advised move has only soured its ties with Beijing further and hurt the feelings of Chinese.

Because of the two countries' different social and cultural backgrounds, misinterpretations and misunderstandings are sometimes unavoidable. Public discussion about the two countries' relationship at the political or economic level should be welcome, but the incendiary language a section of the Australian media and politicians used to attack China shows they have cast aside their social responsibilities.

Only constructive views and well-intended suggestions can help the two countries steer out of troubled waters toward better relationship.

Today, we live in a world in which countries have the highest degree of economic interdependence. If the Shanghai Stock Exchange catches a cold Tokyo or Wall Street could start sneezing.

Since Australia and China complement each other in the economic field they have had vibrant trade ties in recent years. China is Australia's biggest export market, with the two-way trade hitting $53 billion last year.

Australia has been cooperating with China on many multi-level international initiatives.

The $41-billion liquefied natural gas deal, signed on Aug 18, is the biggest trade deal between our two countries, and indicates that the two sides have long-term interests in working toward closer and sounder bilateral, especially economic ties.

Beijing has reiterated that it will not allow the Rio Tinto case to harm its trade ties with Australia. The onus is now on the biased Australian politicians and media to steer their boat in the right direction to help forge a sustainable and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship.

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