Link to article- https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/australia-china-relations/
Under Scott Morrison, the current Prime Minister of Australia, the government has changed its view on China and their growing economic power. Before, China was viewed as one of their top trading partners, but now they view the country as a growing threat to their sovereignty. Rather than teaming with the Chinese, the government is trying to come up with ways to fend off their influence on Australian politics. Prime Minister Morrison has began to put precautions in place for cyber attacks and increased defense spending for the Indo-Pacific Region. Though he has not directly announced that the precautions are being put in place to defend themselves against China, many of Scott Morrison’s cabinet members have said that they are in response to China’s actions.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak and an investigation inquiry that the Australian government supported, China began to impose higher tariffs on Australian imports. China viewed Australia’s support of the inquiry as betrayal, but the Chinese foreign ministry admits that a stable relationship between the two will be beneficial for both countries. Now, China and Australia hold their relationship together with a mutual reliance upon each other; China relies on Australia for their iron ore and other natural resources, and Australia relies on China’s manufactured goods.
The economic relationship between China and Australia is not likely to be broken any time soon, but the reaction by Scott Morrison and the Australian government has the potential to raise some more international concern about China’s surplus of economic growth and power. I believe that if any more precautions are taken in Australia, tensions could be raised in this standoff between the two countries. It will be interesting to see how this conflict turns out due to the allyship between the United States and Australia, who seem to now both have a common bond over their relationship with China and a sense of fear for their growing power.
Australia fears for the safety of their country’s sovereignty, which is a term we have discussed in class. Sovereignty is a state’s independence from the control of other states and the state is able to conduct its own foreign policy. China’s influence is a threat to their sovereignty and democracy because of their socialist government. Without their sovereignty, Australia would become a nation of people with common identities but a lack of control over their international affairs; ultimately causing them to lose their international recognition.