Tag: China

The global context of China’s assault on Australian trade and diplomacy

For Australia, lessons can be learned from Japan. New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga used his first overseas trip to visit Indonesia and Vietnam. Suga signed a defence export deal with Hanoi and provided a $670 million low-interest loan to Jakarta. Suga also deepened security relations with Australia through a defence pact. Suga is making clear and systematic moves to diversify relations and contain Chinese expansion, yet is doing so without the belligerent bluster and crude diplomatic noise found in Morrison’s public displays. Japan has ongoing disputes with China over the South China Sea and tensions remain over Japan’s security arrangements with the United States, yet the two maintain productive and mutually beneficial trade and diplomatic relations. Former Prime Minister and specialist in Sino-Australia relations, Kevin Rudd, has described Japan’s approach as “do more, talk less”. For attention-hungry Morrison, such a strategy is inconceivable.

The global context of China’s assault on Australian trade and diplomacy

Old Dog Thought- 2020 Arsehats. All seem to be the same color

Arsehat of the Year nominees Christian Porter, Bridget McKenzie and Gladys Berejiklian (Images: AAP)

Fighting Fake News with REAL 15/12/20; Magic Morrison; Arsehats of 2020; Policy and senseless ideology;Electoral College; Coal to China; Nine gives photgraphers the bird;

Australia pays high price for megaphone diplomacy – Michael West

megaphone diplomacy

The hysteria over the Victorian government’s MoU with China’s Belt and Road Initiative shows a disturbing lack of understanding of the project by media commentators, academics and some MPs, writes Colin Heseltine.

Australia pays high price for megaphone diplomacy – Michael West

An Olddog thought- The IR Bill is certainly something to fight AGAINST

"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Fighting Fake Nwes with REAL 10/12/20/ Morrison’s Xmas Promise; The Ominoues IR Bill; To fight against; Dan Andrews to fight for; News Corp is a terrorist inspiration; China Shares;

Sinovac vaccine shows up to 97 per cent efficacy in early trials, Bio Farma says

Sinovac had said earlier that 97 per cent of healthy adults receiving lower dosage participating in its Phase 1-2 trial showed antibody-related immune response.
Sinovac had said earlier that 97 per cent of healthy adults receiving lower dosage participating in its Phase 1-2 trial showed antibody-related immune response.Credit:Getty Images

Trump is eating dust yet again.

Jakarta: Indonesia’s state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma said on Tuesday that interim data on trials it was conducting on vaccines produced by the Chinese company Sinovac showed up to 97 per cent efficacy. “Our clinical trial team found, within one month, that the interim data shows up to 97 per cent for its efficacy,” said Iwan Setiawan, a spokesman for Bio Farma, at a news conference.

Sinovac vaccine shows up to 97 per cent efficacy in early trials, Bio Farma says

The PM ignored one of the enduring truths in politics in his over-the-top response to China

The Prime Minister did not need to lower himself to respond to a mid-career Chinese wolf-warrior.

Morrison will also have to work overtime with other US allies (including the Europeans) to lend support to Australia beyond simple declarations of solidarity. Despite Morrison routinely shunning Europe in areas of central concern to them, such as climate change, Australia now needs France, Germany, Britain, Brussels and others to ensure that any World Trade Organisation action against China’s politically driven tariffs receives maximum multilateral support. And finally, Morrison will also need to take a leaf out of Japan’s recent playbook on dealing with China. He’ll need to grow up and, importantly, learn to shut up – other than when it’s essential for our core values and interests and, where possible, articulated in unison with our friends and allies. The irony is that Morrison’s current course is making Australia less secure, not more secure, despite his government seeking to wrap itself in the rhetorical mantle of “national security”. Managing China’s rise, and its interplay with American and allied military and economic power, is not a juvenile game for domestic political advantage. The national interests at stake are too high for that.

The PM ignored one of the enduring truths in politics in his over-the-top response to China

Old Dog Thought- LNP shrinking our freedoms while China is giving it’s citizens more. Are we becoming more Chinese?

The Prime Minister did not need to lower himself to respond to a mid-career Chinese wolf-warrior.

Fighting Fake News with REAL 6/12/20; China Ruddy China, Surviellance In Australia is becoming more CCP

A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin story | China | The Guardian

Man with mystery illness brought into Wuhan hospital earlier this year.

The history of the Spanish flu has never been clearly explained. It’s NOT SPANISH but is AMERICAN and was first discovered to have originated in army barracks of Kansas from where it was taken by troops to Europe during WW1. The American flu killed 50 million people yet is never acknowledged as American with the appropriate name change. The question has certainly never been brought up by the Trump administration which so easily accuses China of dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

The Chinese have as much right to question the origins of COVID-19 as The Americans don’t question the Spanish flu being incorrectly named. The jury is still out on Trump’s naming it the Chinese flu it’s not out about the Spanish flu being falsely named. (ODT)

“Although China was the first to report cases, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus originated in China,” Zhao Lijian told a briefing. “Origin tracing is an ongoing process that may involve multiple countries and regions.”

A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin story | China | The Guardian

Doctored Indignation: Australia-China Relations – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Clay foot diplomacy is all the rage in Canberra, and the Australian government has become a solid practitioner. Having stuck its neck out across continents and seas to proclaim the need to investigate China over the origins of the novel coronavirus, the Morrison government now finds itself in the tightest of corners. Very much one to bite the hand that feeds it, Australia is trying to prove in international relations that you can, from behind the curtain, provoke your largest trading partner while still hoping to trade with it.

Doctored Indignation: Australia-China Relations – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thought- For Scotty from Marketing it’s all Style over Meaning

The effect of Right-wing bias in Australia's media

Fighting Fake News with REAL 1/12/20; Right Wing & the Australian Media; Attacking the ABC and Friends;

Scott Morrison’s new vision for Australia accepts the old global order is changing – ABC News

A composite image of Xi Jinping and Scott Morrison against red backdrops
Trump’s Teflon Man Morrison is not

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Australia’s top diplomat, Frances Adamson, have both set out a vision for Australia that accepts the old order is changing.

Scott Morrison’s new vision for Australia accepts the old global order is changing – ABC News

Old Dog thought- LNP is Socializing business debt while maximizing personal

Westpac and its super arm BT gouge $8 billion from unsuspecting public

Fighting Fake News with REAL 26/11/20; Journalisms fall from grace; LNP on Super they don’t want to have you get 15% Retail Super Funds want Union Funds; China China China might they have a point?

China beat the coronavirus with science and strong public health measures, not just with authoritarianism

I live in a democracy. But as Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself longing for the type of freedom I am seeing in China. People in China are able to move around freely right now. Many Americans may believe that the Chinese are able to enjoy this freedom because of China’s authoritarian regime. As a scholar of public health in China, I think the answers go beyond that.

China beat the coronavirus with science and strong public health measures, not just with authoritarianism

Revealed: radical escalation in US war machine funding for Australian Government “think tank” ASPI – Michael West

ASPI foreign funding

Scott Morrison says Australia’s position has been wrongly interpreted as siding with the US over China. Yet two of the main funders of the Federal Government-owned think-tank ASPI, a constant critic of China, are the US State Department, whose secretary Mike Pompeo has led the charge of global anti-China sentiment, and foreign weapons makers. Marcus Reubenstein investigates.

Revealed: radical escalation in US war machine funding for Australian Government “think tank” ASPI – Michael West

Australia’s biggest export could be key against tensions boiling over with China – ABC News

Chinese flags fly high outside the Australian Parliament House in Canberra

Morrison’s jaundiced relationship with China is making CEO spines shiver (ODT)

A rising tide of fear has begun to course through the boardrooms of some of the nation’s biggest companies. Some can see their entire livelihoods on the line. A great many others worry about a huge drop in earnings and profits and, by proxy, a premature end to their own careers.

Australia’s biggest export could be key against tensions boiling over with China – ABC News

Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio slams Beijing for ‘bullying’ Australia

Republican Senator Marco Rubio says other democratic countries need to stand up for Australia.

So much for “we stand alone” stance insisted by Morrison. Broadsides coming from America suggest otherwise. (ODT)

Senior United States Senator Marco Rubio has lashed the Chinese government for its “economic coercion” against Australia, saying it is important for a global alliance of democracies to speak up in support of Canberra. The intervention from the former Republican presidential candidate followed a sharp escalation in rhetoric from Beijing as it doubled down on its claim that the Morrison government is solely to blame for deteriorating relations between China and Australia.

Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio slams Beijing for ‘bullying’ Australia

Old Dog Thought- Have we ever recognized the soul of this nation?

Extinction of koalas means the death of our country's soul

Fighting Fake News with REAL;19/11/20 Koala Extinction Bill; China; Abbott Murdoch’s first true marionette

China grows nearly 5%; Will historians look back at Trump’s disastrous Pandemic Response as the Moment Beijing Overtook the US?

Even if Trump loses, he can go on screwing up the country for two and a half months thereafter, and it will take years to undo the damage he has done. Pandemics are the sort of thing you want to nip in the bud. If you let them go to national community spread, they become far more difficult to quash. Some analysts are looking at winter 2023 for the US to “put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror,” and that is assuming we get an effective vaccine fairly soon (something of which there is no guarantee), and that it can be mass manufactured and widely distributed and that people will get it.

China grows nearly 5%; Will historians look back at Trump’s disastrous Pandemic Response as the Moment Beijing Overtook the US?

China to crush Australian economy for anti-Chinese sentiments 

China to crush Australian economy for anti-Chinese sentiments

Beijing has banned importы of Australian coal. The move came as China’s response to Australia’s support for its geopolitical ally, the United States. Why doesn’t Moscow learn from Beijing?

Russia needs to learn a few lessons from China on how to twist Europe’s arms

China tightens the screws on Australian coal imports

Some Chinese energy providers have been told to stop importing Australian coal amidst trade tensions between our countries, writes Professor John Quiggin.

China tightens the screws on Australian coal imports

With ‘great concern’ Germany watching Australia-China relationship

Germany's ambassador to Australia, Dr Thomas Fitschen.

Dr Fitschen said Germany would diversify its political and economic relations in Asia so that it did not fall into a dependency on China’s market. “Diversification does not mean decoupling. Diversification means China plus X,” he said. “The German government and the EU must put in place the necessary conditions for this.”

With ‘great concern’ Germany watching Australia-China relationship

Old Dog Thoughts- Conspiracies Right-Wing fantasy sold as news

Rupert Murdoch

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 14/10/20; Coal’s embers have stopped glowing; China has left it tocool; Is News Corp a News Company?

Mainstream media chastises China, ignoring U.S. crimes

The best we can hope for when picking up our daily paper is that an attempt has been made to present opinions with at least a passing nod to objectivity. That should not be too much to ask but increasingly opinion is clearly just that: opinion. What happens when propaganda replaces journalism?

Mainstream media chastises China, ignoring U.S. crimes

Old Dog Thoughts- Racist “Herd Mentality” Promoter attacks the Archbald Prize

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 23/9/20; Cartoon, Morrison’s Tax Cuts, Fake News, China,

Old Dog Thoughts- First Nation History Discovered

Fighting Fake News with REAL 11/9/20 ;The Real Threat to Law and Order | Robert Reich First Nations habitats Bruce Pascoe,Grace Karskens Audio;

China policy: Our trading relationship is being ruined by the Right wing

Leadership: The LNP is practiced in not giving answers when asked quite the opposite can be said of Dan Andrews.

That made no sense to me. During the course of a 23-year career in DFAT, which involved briefing ministers and ministerial advisers, I cannot recall the provision of such simple and straightforward information not being provided under the circumstances prevailing in this matter. I went back:

China policy: Our trading relationship is being ruined by the Right wing

Australian firms and their staff face increasing risks in China

 

What’s left of “team Australia” in China is now, potentially, team hostage for a regime seemingly determined to punish Australia.

We seem to have soured our relationship with China since 2016. It’s not hard to understand why. Murdoch Media was quick to change it’s praise of China to editorials that resembled Fox Corp and the LNP was quick to jump on board. The country that bugged Timor Leste started openly China accusing having agents wherever there was a Chinese face.. Australian Chinese like Australian Muslims started to feel the impact of the LNP and their media backed 1950’s and 60s attitudes to a country they celebrated when CHAFTA was signed. Yes there has been a lot of kowtowing but not to Chinese attempt at friendship.

Australian firms and their staff face increasing risks in China

Australia takes high moral ground as China expels journalists

 

Australia takes high moral ground as China expels journalists
cheng lei bill birtles michael smith

Multiple Chinese media sources now claim the ASIO raided four Chinese journalists in Australia. Given the focus on Chinese espionage in Australia at the moment this may be true — and could possibly tip the problem on its head — but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would not confirm or deny it.

Australia takes high moral ground as China expels journalists

ASIO questioned Chinese journalist in Australia over Shaoquett Moselmane

AFR journalist Mike Smith with ABC journalist Bill Birtles as they prepared to leave China on Monday night.

This article seems to be misinformed saying the Chinese forced two Australian journalists out. The left on the advice of the Australian government which has had an increasingly tenuous relationship with China since Abbott came to power. A relationship politicized by the demands of the USA and domestic politics. Australian Foreign policy has shifted dramatically in the last 7 years noticeably for the worse. The LNP cut in foreign aid and Abbott’s eagerness to be more involved in Europe created a vacuum and opportunity for China which they now seem to be paying the price.(ODT)

The Chinese Communist Party’s international state media mouthpiece, Xinhua, published a report overnight claiming the Australian intelligence agency recently raided the residences of Chinese journalists in Australia, questioned them and seized their computers and smartphones. Current Time 0:45 / Duration 2:10 Two Australian journalists rushed home from China Two Australian journalists rushed home from China Scott Morrison wants ‘graphic’ TikTok video taken down Two Australian journalists rushed home from China Two Australian journalists have landed in Sydney after being pulled out of China by their news organisations for fear they were no longer safe. Scott Morrison wants ‘graphic’ TikTok video taken down 2:06 Up next Scott Morrison wants ‘graphic’ TikTok video taken down LIVE: Marise Payne addresses the media Greg Hunt addresses the media Treasurer outlines changes to JobKeeper PM and Home Affairs Minister address the media LIVE: PM and Home Affairs Minister address the media Senior Australian government sources confirmed questioning took place, but said it was normal procedure and it shouldn’t be compared with the treatment of Smith and Birtles who had been forced out of China.

ASIO questioned Chinese journalist in Australia over Shaoquett Moselmane

When is China-Bashing Racist?

https://www.juancole.com/images/2020/08/when-is-china-bashing-racist-750x422.jpg

Few would doubt that China poses challenges for America, but we can no longer pretend that American policies are always just, or that China is the evil empire. China used to provide a major market for American agriculture and the auto industry; now it doesn’t. President Trump determined that. China used to work closely with WHO sharing their massive data on Covid-19; now they don’t. President Trump determined that. China could offer critical help in mounting an effective response to climate disaster, but that would make no sense to Trump, who sees the world as a collection of races not keeping their places. Connect the dots. At a time when no one can escape pandemic or global heating, policy may matter more than ideology. If a “Democratic” nation revokes emission standards, everyone will suffer. If a “Communist” country develops effective pandemic responses, everyone benefits so long as nations share ideas and data. Traditionally, liberals tend to embrace these kinds of common-sense strategies. Why should anyone opt for race over reason just because someone uttered the word “China”?

When is China-Bashing Racist?

 

Branch stacking scandals highlight the media’s double standards

Australia is a nation of double standards. It should come as no surprise to see our politicians and our media brazenly wearing them like badges of honour. As a country, we criticise China at every available opportunity for any whiff of foreign interference, though we turn a blind eye to blatant interference coming from Israel. As many on the right say: “China has a woeful record on human rights”, as if Palestine didn’t exist. The media talked up “historic” peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. People hear the words “Middle East peace deal” and think of Israel and Palestine, yet the media have neglected to sufficiently inform the public that this dud deal that is already in jeopardy. It has not brought about peace, in fact, Gaza has seen Israel bomb their men, women and children every night for two weeks.

Branch stacking scandals highlight the media’s double standards

Trump walks Alone: Former US Allies Britain, France, Germany join Russia and China in Forcefully Rejecting Trump Iran Sanctions

https://www.juancole.com/images/2020/08/trump-walks-alone-former-us-alli-750x422.jpg

Trump walks Alone: Former US Allies Britain, France, Germany join Russia and China in Forcefully Rejecting Trump Iran Sanctions

Trump walks Alone: Former US Allies Britain, France, Germany join Russia and China in Forcefully Rejecting Trump Iran Sanctions

The importance of making up with China

 

SINCE DONALD TRUMP became President, the relationship between the U.S. and China has deteriorated to the point that some observers talk of war. Why is this? In simple terms, America feels threatened by China’s rapidly expanding wealth and influence. Dangerous confrontation has resulted and Australia has been sucked in. How far remains to be seen, but it is not in Australia’s interest to be used by Trump or Murdoch.

via The importance of making up with China

Old Dog Thoughts- Victoria is the new China just blame everything on Dan

Fighting Fake News with REAL 12/8/20; Biden’s VP Nominee Kamala Harris; Humour, Victori is the media’s new China ;

Old Dog Thoughts- only one moral backbone

Image may contain: 1 person, standing and eyeglasses, text that says 'EAL ELS ITY gettyimages Steven StevenFerdman 1188675516'James Murdoch has resigned from the News Corp board.

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 1/8/20; A president’s Schizoid 180 degree turn; 5 Key Demands for the New Coronavirus Bill | Robert Reich; What Murdoch omits;

We must change China or China will change us, Pompeo warns

Mike Pompeo: "If the free world doesn’t change communist China, communist China will change us."

He’s talking Economic System and Private Interests here in a world in which citizens

are living under the yolks of debt and poverty. You’re declared well off  in the size of debt your allowed and enslaved to. (ODT)

via We must change China or China will change us, Pompeo warns

As the US election looms, Trump is running as hard against China as he is against Biden

via As the US election looms, Trump is running as hard against China as he is against Biden

Old Dog Thoughts- What would the LNP do in politics without racial scapegoating

Image

Fighting Fake News with REAL 21/7/20; It’s Time to ignore the old Fart; Mr beige, O’Brien’s political lightbulb moment go anti-Chinese, Remember Cronulla, Islamophobia, Anti- Africa, Asylum Seekers,

GOP Death Cult Forbids Mandatory Masks, Keeping US in Crisis, as China Grows 3.2%

via GOP Death Cult Forbids Mandatory Masks, Keeping US in Crisis, as China Grows 3.2%

COVID-19: Where was it born: China, the United States or Ukania? (A diabolical struggle: part 7) – » The Australian Independent Media Network

via COVID-19: Where was it born: China, the United States or Ukania? (A diabolical struggle: part 7) – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts- What Pandemic Dan’s gone China and China has gone Tesla

Fighting Fake News with REAL 6/7/20; America’s hospitals are filling up; Dan Andrews has gone all China; China is buying America’s Tesla; Morrison ditches Tranparency;

Wilful ignorance of facts on Chinese investment is cheap politics – Michael West

Photo of Chinese flag flying over Parliament House, Canberra

Fears of China buying up the country run deep, with opportunistic politicians and commentators long showing a willingness to not let “facts” get in the way of the truth. And the facts are that: China’s land interests are predominantly leasehold, it owns just 2% of foreign investment stock and is subject to a much lower threshold test. With the Australia-China relationship at a low ebb, it is time to call out this destructive tactic, writes James Laurenceson.

via Wilful ignorance of facts on Chinese investment is cheap politics – Michael West

Delisting Chinese Firms From US Exchanges – Stephen Lendman

Trumpism and the drag on a nation(ODT

According to commander of US Naval Forces in Europe, Africa, and NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Admiral James Foggo:

“NATO can no longer ignore China’s activities in Europe.” Citing no credible evidence, he falsely claimed Beijing aims to undermine the international rules-based order.

Claiming as well that it maintained peace throughout the post-WW II era ignored endless US preemptive wars against invented enemies.

Is US conflict with China inevitable — given the country’s growing prominence on the world stage while the US declines?

China pursues cooperative relations with other countries. So do Russia, Iran, and other nations the US is hostile toward.

Washington’s drive for unchallenged dominance risks unthinkable nuclear war if it pushes things too far against nations able to hit back hard in self-defense if attacked.

via Delisting Chinese Firms From US Exchanges – Stephen Lendman

Australia China relations doomed to fail because of our ignorance:

via Australia China relations doomed to fail because of our ignorance:

Old Dog Thoughts- Where has our moral backbone gone?

Tabloids’ ‘traitor’ claims raise stakes in Australia China spat

Fighting Fake News with REAL 20/6/20; Racism is the new Australian flag;

Trump and Morrison: A love affair imperiling Australia’s future

On the other hand, as China increasingly looks to be more self-sufficient in food and raw materials, Australia will be first in line to disappear from China’s supply chain.

Australia is a country which has little interest in being an independent nation and therefore is in a paralysed state of infantile dependence, incapable of looking after itself. 

“Constructive discussions” with Trump is a moronic concept, if not oxymoronic

via Trump and Morrison: A love affair imperiling Australia’s future

Old Dog Thoughts- China-Hate has been part of Racist Australia for centuries

Sinophobia: Anxiety, Violence, and the Making of Mongolian ...

Fighting Fake News with REAL 14/6/20; ASIO, Murdoch is an economic lead weight the yoke that ensures the Fuck up of Australian and China relations;

Australia cannot expect China to import and burn coal it no longer needs | Coal | The Guardian

Imported coal being unloaded in China's Jiangsu province

Scapegoating China for the loss of coal contracts (ODT)

We have to prepare for this shift and our policymakers need to stop misleading coalmining communities on the outlook

via Australia cannot expect China to import and burn coal it no longer needs | Coal | The Guardian

Old Dog Thoughts-Rio Tinto is happy to be the butt of jokes as long as it doesn’t lose it’s mining licence

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 10/6/20; Humour and Shovel; Policing is a service; Racism by design; The burn and the truth;

Australia says China travel warning ‘unhelpful’ amid escalating diplomatic row – ABC News

People walk down a relatively empty main thoroughfare in Sydney's Chinatown.

Key points:

There have been a number of high-profile racist incidents in Australia targeting Asians during the coronavirus pandemic
Nevertheless, analysts say that China’s travel warning is the latest attempt to pressure Australia into cooperation
Incidents of xenophobia and harassment of foreigners have also been recorded in China during COVID-19

Australia says China travel warning ‘unhelpful’ amid escalating diplomatic row – ABC News