Australians’ trust in China and the US dropping: Lowy poll
Australians’ trust in China and the US keeps falling and as many as nine in 10 Australians want the government to shift its reliance from China to other trading partners.
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A new survey has found as many as nine in 10 people (94 per cent) believe the Australian government should look for other markets to steer the country away from its reliance on its number one trading partner, China.
Trust in China has also dropped to just 23 per cent – less than half of what it was two years ago.
These were some of the key findings in the Lowy Institute’s 16th annual poll of Australian attitudes towards international issues released today.
“Australians are sceptical of China, disappointed in the United States, and anxious about the economic downturn,” the institute said.
The poll of 2448 adult Australians was taken between March 16 and 29, before the escalation of friction with China over trade issues and the inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus.
Four out of five Australians also believe the government should sanction Chinese officials associated with human rights abuses.
However, when it comes to the way coronavirus has been handled, Australians rank China (31 per cent) above the US, at just 10 per cent.
That contrasts with the 93 per cent who back the way the Morrison government has tackled the pandemic.
The survey results come after a respected international economist warned US-China tensions are a bigger global threat than the coronavirus pandemic.
American economist Jeffrey Sachs, a 2017 Nobel prize winner, told the BBC the world is headed for a period of “massive disruption without any leadership” in the aftermath of the pandemic.
He advised growing friction between the superpower would make matters worse and were being spurred on by the US administration.
“The US is a force for division, not for co-operation,” he told the BBC’s Asia Business Report.
“It’s a force for trying to create a new cold war with China. If this takes hold – if that kind of approach is used, then we won’t go back to normal, indeed we will spiral into greater controversy and greater danger in fact.”
CHINESE FINGERPRINTS ON AUSSIE CYBER ATTACK
It comes as the Chinese government has been accused of orchestrating a massive cyber-hit on Australian soil, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning the nation’s critical infrastructure was under attack.
Mr Morrison blamed a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor’’ for an attack which was “currently’’ under way targeting Australian businesses, political organisations, education and health providers and all levels of government.
He refused to name the foreign government or agency, but five separate Government and security sources told News Corp, China was behind the attacks.
In a hastily-convened press conference, Mr Morrison called on Australian industry and individuals to upgrade their cybersecurity, download the latest software and seek expert advice to protect themselves from hackers.
“We know it’s a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used,’’ he said.
“It is clear, based on the advice that we have received, that this has been done by a state-based actor with very, very significant capabilities … there aren’t too many state-based actors who have those capabilities.’’
Asked what he would say to people who would “naturally’’ think China was responsible for the attacks, Mr Morrison said: “I can’t control what speculation others might engage in.’’
The PM said he had advised Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese about the cyber-attack on Thursday night, and passed messages to the premiers and chief ministers.
But despite the urgent nature of his press conference it does not appear a single attack overnight on Thursday triggered the dramatic public announcement.
Rather, escalating attacks, which sources said were occurring daily but increased during the COVID-19 crisis and spiked in recent days, had prompted his statement, along with concerns the public wasn’t heeding warnings from the Government’s Australian Cyber Security Centre.
“We raised this issue today not to raise concerns in the public’s mind, but to raise awareness in the public’s mind,’’ Mr Morrison said.
He had discussed the attacks with Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Five-Eyes intelligence partner the UK, on Thursday night.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre said the attacks, which were largely unsuccessful, had used “spearphising techniques.’’
This included getting computer users to divert to websites which harvest credentials such as usernames and passwords, sending emails with links to malicious files, and using email tracking services to identity when people opened emails, and lure them to click through to malicious sites.
The Chinese Embassy did not respond to a request for it to respond to Mr Morrison’s announcement.
Tom Uren from the Australia Strategic Policy Institute’s international cyber policy centre said Mr Morrison was “talking about the Chinese state and some groups conducting espionage on their behalf.’’
He said while Russia, Iran and North Korea had sophisticated capabilities, “none of these countries had the same motivation’’ as China to attack Australia.
“You end up with a very, very short list of one,’’ he said.
It comes as the Australia-China relationship deteriorates, with Mr Morrison leading calls for an international inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak in China which led to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
China slapped tariffs on Australia barley growers, threatened to boycott Australian products, warned tourists and students not to travel to Australia, and this week announced Australian man Karm Gilespie, convicted of drug-smuggling five years ago, would face the death penalty.
The director of the Lowy Institute’s Rules-Based Order Project, Ben Scott, said Mr Morrison was “almost certainly talking about China.’’
“I think China is most likely to have the motive,’’ he said.
Mr Scott said the PM’s statement had the effect of urging people and companies to upgrade their IT security.
It also “sent a message to the sophisticated state actor to say we are aware of what you’re up to.’’
Telstra CEO Andy Penn said his company’s own monitoring “confirms what the Prime Minister has said today.’’
“We have seen a significant increase in cyber-attack activity in recent weeks and we are on heightened alert for ourselves and for our customers and we are actively managing the risk,’’ he said.
Individuals and businesses should visit www.cyber.gov.au for more information.
– additional reporting staff writer
Originally published as Australians’ trust in China and the US dropping: Lowy poll