Beijing’s bullies are on the nose

If Beijing’s loathsome cowboy envoys need a measure of how Australians view their propaganda antics and grubby coercion, they need look no further than the annual Lowy Institute Poll, published on Wednesday. China’s authoritarian regime and its elbows-out minions are on the nose. Less than a quarter of Australians trust China to act responsibly in world affairs and a mere 22 per cent express confidence in President Xi Jinping — both figures halving in the past two years to record lows. Our relations with China have been in the deep freeze since the 2018 passage of robust foreign interference laws and banning of Huawei from our 5G network. Those moves were in our national interest. Things took another turn when the Morrison government led the call for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

China hit back with “wolf warrior” bluster, before lashing out with an 80 per cent tariff on barley, bans on beef producers and a bizarre travel warning to its students to avoid an allegedly unsafe and racist country. Little wonder such bullying and slander are fuelling a grassroots push for less dependency on China: 94 per cent of respondents to the Lowy poll say we need to look for other markets. Mass detention of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and repression in Hong Kong have also hardened views of the Chinese Communist Party, with eight in 10 Australians supporting travel and financial sanctions on officials associated with human rights abuses. Scott Morrison is pushing back at Beijing’s “disinformation”, warning last Friday of a “malicious” campaign of state-sponsored cyber attacks against Australia. The recruitment of former US secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen to prepare our cyber security strategy is a welcome move.

Few doubt China is behind hacking. In fact, more nations are becoming weary of Beijing’s undiplomatic ploys, theft of intellectual property, debt-trap chicanery, political meddling, economic intimidation and rising militarism. Its defensiveness over the pandemic, and brazen opportunism in playing all angles, are immature. Last month the community of nations called out such dodgy behaviour in a resounding vote on a COVID-19 inquiry at the World Health Assembly. The CCP’s bullying is making enemies. Beijing will pay a price for its belligerence and bad faith, via containment policies, trade diversion and a slide in prestige. Pressure will build within Western nations, including Five Eyes members, to keep firms such as Huawei out of sensitive networks and key infrastructure. Boris Johnson’s apparent willingness to allow Huawei to build a major new “research facility” close to Cambridge is a security risk.

The collapse in citizens’ trust is not the fault of China’s people. Similarly, the 1.2 million Australians with Chinese ancestry should recognise the chill in relations is directly due to Mr Xi’s awful actions. This, too, should be apparent in contemplating the Lowy poll’s findings about Australians’ lack of confidence in US President Donald Trump, despite strong support for the US alliance. Only 51 per cent of respondents trust the US to act responsibly, which is almost a third lower than in 2009. Only one in three Australians has confidence in Mr Trump to do the right thing. It’s a stark reminder of the profound challenges in making foreign policy, with our largest economic partner seen as increasingly hostile and our closest ally perceived as less reliable in what could, as some analysts believe, be a new Cold War.

That harsh reality is showing up in Australians feeling more gloomy about security. Only half of those surveyed by the Lowy Institute reported feeling safe, a 28-point drop from 2018. The same proportion feel optimistic about Australia’s economic performance in the next decade — the lowest level recorded in the poll’s 16-year history. As Lowy scholars Alex Oliver and Natasha Kassam wrote on Wednesday, despite the pandemic, recession and souring of relations with China, Australians remain largely positive about globalisation and free trade. “The sentiments we express this year suggest we look to countries we trust, led by leaders we are confident will do the right thing, to work on issues that are important to Australia, as we square up to an uncertain future,” they wrote. It’s time to deepen some ties and nurture new friendships, while staying open to the world and true to our values.