China crisis ‘can still be averted’, says Frances Adamson

Australia’s top diplomat has urged China to act constructively in its global relationships, saying Beijing is mistaken if it thinks that it can set the terms of its engagement with the world.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson. Picture: Gary Ramage

Australia’s top diplomat has urged China to act constructively in its global relationships, saying Beijing is mistaken if it thinks that it can set the terms of its engagement with the world.

Amid growing criticism of Australia by China, and attempts by Scott Morrison to recalibrate the nation’s relationship with its largest trading partner, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson said it was understandable that Beijing wanted recognition for its economic success and its importance to global trading partners.

But she told the Australian ­National University’s National Security College that no power with such global influence could ­“escape scrutiny or debate”.

Ms Adamson said the world had done a lot of thinking about China’s power, “but it is less apparent that China has carefully considered other countries’ reactions to its conduct internationally”.

“China may have reached a point where it believes that it can set the terms of its engagement with the world,” she said. “If it has, it is mistaken. There is far more to be gained for China, and everyone else, through working constructively and collaboratively within the international system, without resort to pressure or coercion.”

After months of Chinese trade bans on Australian exports, Ms Adamson said the future for Australia and the region would be heavily affected by Beijing’s decisions. But she said other Indo-­Pacific countries, including the US, would also shape the region.

“Inevitably, we are involved in a competition for influence, because how the regional order evolves will profoundly shape our security and other interests,” she said. “If Australia did not have an agenda and exercise agency, then we would simply have to accept the terms dictated by others.”

Australia’s influence overseas would be a function of the nation’s strong economic foundations, and especially its successful response to COVID-19, she said, adding that our national values of openness, fairness and a level playing field were also crucial.

“This is not about imposing our view on others,” Ms Adamson said. “We know and understand that an era within which we felt comfortable has passed. It is about building a system with the flexibility, resilience and openness that supports economic growth and sustained peace for all countries in the Indo-Pacific.”

The speech followed further turbulence in the Australia-China relationship last week, with the ­release by the Chinese embassy of an unofficial list of grievances attacking Australia over comments by federal MPs, the blocking of Chinese investments, unfavourable media coverage of Beijing, and “incessant wanton interference” in its policies on Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang.

The US ambassador to Australia, Arthur Culvahouse, blasted the list as undiplomatic, declaring “you would never see a United States embassy give such a list”.

He said the list of 14 grievances, which also lashed Australia’s ­Huawei 5G ban, showed that ­Australia was standing up for its own interests.

“That is not the way to do ­diplomacy and it’s not the way one should deal with concerns,” he said on Wednesday. “It should be done government to government. That sort of interference I don’t think you would see from the US.”

The Prime Minister offered a rhetorical olive branch to Beijing on Monday, saying Australia “is not and has never been in the economic containment camp on China”. He also said Australia’s actions had been wrongly interpreted by some through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the US.

Beijing acknowledged the “positive comments” in a sign that seven months of bilateral tensions could at last be easing.

“China noticed Prime Minister Morrison’s positive comments,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Tuesday in Beijing.

Additional reporting: Will Glasgow