SINGAPORE – In a book published in 2022 amid strained ties between Australia and China, former Australian prime minister John Howard described China as Australia’s biggest foreign policy challenge and predicted that it would continue to view Australia as “something of a proxy punching bag”.
That is because Beijing feels “safe in attacking Australia” in ways that it would not dare to use on its more powerful ally, the United States.
Today, however, “there are signs that (the proxy punching bag) is weakening as a description”, Mr Howard told The Straits Times on Wednesday.
“When I wrote it, it was certainly a difficult time diplomatically. But things appear to have improved a little since then,” he said.
Mr Howard, 84, was in town to attend the Asia Future Summit 2023, co-organised by ST, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times. The two-day summit is an invitation-only event taking place on Wednesday and Thursday at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.
His book, A Sense Of Balance, went on sale in 2022, which was the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between China and Australia.
But things did not look pretty then. Friction had grown between the two sides as Australia joined US efforts to curb China, such as condemning Beijing’s decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong and human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang.
A frustrated China started to impose trade sanctions on Australia from 2020, restricting the export of a wide range of products including barley, beef, wine and coal. Australia suffered billions of dollars in export losses as a result.
Signs of a thaw in strained ties emerged earlier in 2023, with the resumption of dialogue between the two countries and China lifting tariffs on Australian barley.
Current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also accepted an invitation to visit China later in 2023.
“It seems to me as if China is trying to adopt a slightly warmer tone towards Australia,” said Mr Howard.
He is positive about the future of bilateral ties.
“China is our big export destination... and we have a very extensive free trade agreement,” he said. “There have been some difficulties in the past, some of those things have been overcome, and there are still some more issues that we face. But it’s a very close and important economic relationship.”
SPH Media is holding a two-day conference on the future of Asia on Oct 4 and Oct 5.
The by-invitation Asia Future Summit 2023 will bring together 300 delegates, thought leaders, policymakers and diplomats, and feature more than 20 speakers. They include Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former prime minister of Australia John Howard, former United States ambassador to Singapore Jon Huntsman and Mr Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys.
The event at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore will also discuss the world views of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister who died in 2015 and who would have turned 100 this year.
OCBC is the presenting sponsor of the event.
He also stressed the importance of maintaining good ties with both China and the US, though he acknowledged that Australia is closer to the US “because we have ties of history”.
However, he added that there are 1.4 million Australians with Chinese ethnicity, and Mandarin is the most widely spoken foreign language in his country.
“I think what Australia wants is good relations indefinitely (with China),” he said.
Mr Howard also spoke during a panel discussion that reflected on Singapore founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s contributions to the development of Asia and global relations.
- OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023. The event is also supported by Guocoland and Kingsford Group.
