Penny Wong tells UK to confront its ‘colonial past’ before China threat

Australia’s Foreign Minister used a landmark speech in London to school Britain on how to avoid war with China.

Penny Wong used her first major speech in the United Kingdom as Foreign Minister to school Britain’s leaders on confronting their “uncomfortable”, colonial past to avoid war with China.

Despite China’s continued aggression in the Indo-Pacific, Ms Wong used her landmark policy speech at London’s historic King’s College to share stories of Britain’s colonisation as a solution to escalating tensions in the region.

“It gives us the opportunity to find more common ground than if we stayed sheltered in narrower versions of our countries’ histories,” Senator Wong said in copies of her remarks circulated to media before the speech.

Ms Wong’s speech at King’s College’s Centre for Grand Strategy outlined how to prevent a “catastrophic conflict” in the Indo-Pacific, saying it was “up to all countries” to ask themselves how to use their power, influence, networks and capabilities.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Picture: AFP

For the UK and Australia, she said that starts with reflecting on the experiences of British colonisation, like her father who was born in Malaysia and descended from Hakka and Cantonese Chinese, and the many, like her grandmother, who “worked as domestic servants for British colonists” in Borneo.

“Such stories can sometimes feel uncomfortable — for those whose stories they are, and for those who hear them,” she said in the draft speech.

“But understanding the past enables us to better share the present and the future.”

Ms Wong’s rebuke of Britain’s history was delivered among the storeyed halls of King’s College, a public research university established by royal charger in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and was one of the two founding colleges of the University of London in 1836.

That same year, 1836, the family of Ms Wong’s mother were among British colonists to settle in South Australia.

She said that “ancestral connection with Britain has been standard among the men and women who have served in my role”.

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace. Picture: AFP

Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Picture: AFP

She added Australia’s interests in the Indo-Pacific were just for security, but to be “understood” by its regional neighbours, saying countries can modernise their relationships through “the story we tell the world about who we are, which is, of course, the starting point of our foreign policies”.

“To be truly effective in the region, we need to offer countries choices. After all, not being forced to choose means having real choices. Choices in areas that count — like investment, innovation, education, energy transition and more. Choices that help countries protect their own sovereignty.”

Ms Wong was in London with Defence Minister Richard Marles to meet with their British counterparts, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace, for high-level talks this week about modernising the Australia-UK relationship, tackling climate change, building economic resilience, and contributing to global peace and security.

While her speech focused on what Australia and Britain could do to avoid war, Ms Wong was also set to reveal that she raised during a visit to Beijing last month the need to develop “strategic guardrails” to prevent conflict between Beijing and the United States.

“President Biden’s leadership in putting guardrails for strategic competition on the table is welcome. It is in the world’s interests that his overtures are met,” the speech said.

“The deployment of UK and European naval assets to the Indo-Pacific adds to strategic equilibrium and collective deterrence in our region,” the speech continued.

Originally published as Penny Wong tells UK to confront its ‘colonial past’ before China threat