The humiliating, disdainful and provocative treatment of the Australian Government by the Chinese Government is the direct consequence of confused and muddled foreign policy objectives that the Prime Minister Rudd has been pursuing in China since 2007, Senator Russell Trood the Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee said today.
Senator Trood pointed out that the Rudd Government has been sending mixed messages to the Chinese leadership, which may help explain the complete disregard for the Australian diplomatic efforts to gain access to Mr. Hu by the Chinese officials.
“On one hand, we have a Prime Minister who proclaims a commitment to a deeper engagement with China and who made a big fuss of advocating for China to be included in international discussions on everything from global security to the global financial crisis.
“On the other hand, this very same Prime Minister then produces a Defence White Paper which thinly veils China as a military threat to the region and makes very unsubtle allusions to an arms race.
Senator Trood strongly criticised the Prime Minister’s decision to go on leave this week, saying that the decision underscores the fact that the Rudd Government has a long way to go before it can provide Australians with convincing evidence of its ability to successfully advance and protect Australia’s national interests.
“Mr. Rudd is clearly sticking his head in the sand. That the Prime Minister should go on ‘informal leave’ in the midst of the biggest diplomatic crisis this country has faced in many years speaks volumes about Labour’s inability to manage Australia’s relationship with China.”
Senator Trood encouraged a return to the consistent line of policy undertaken under the Howard Government, which emphasised ‘shared interests and mutual respect’ between the two countries.
He urged for the Rudd Government to “re-position high public expectations of Australia’s ‘special’ relationship with China, undertake an immediate review of Sino-Australian relations and develop a strategy to establish a functional working relationship based on mutual respect and common interests.
“Stephen Smith should have Australians believe that our relationship with China is now ‘stronger and more broadly based than ever before’, and Kevin Rudd wants Australian diplomacy to be ‘the best in the world’, but this embarrassing incident has exposed both a breakdown in bilateral relations and the short-comings of our diplomacy.
“The public and humiliating treatment of Australian efforts to assist Mr. Hu has revealed that when push comes to shove, this Labour Government has no special clout in Beijing whatsoever”
“Indeed, we cannot pretend that our Prime Minister is a special friend of the Chinese Government when Australians officials are forced to scour Chinese newspapers and the internet for information on an Australian citizen,” Senator Trood concluded.
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