A Rational Approach to Beijing Can Improve Sino-Australia Trade Relations, Says Expert
View of Beijing, China.
According to Australia’s prime minister, Canberra hopes to stabilize relations with China, but if this is to happen, Beijing must lift “trade restrictions” on Australian exports.A Chinese expert told Sputnik that if Australia wants China to lift its so-called “trade sanctions” then Canberra must take a rational approach to Beijing – with relations based on the principle of mutual benefit – and not be influenced by US pressure on Australia to help contain the PRC.Commenting on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s statements, Shen Shishun – a senior researcher at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing – said that the first thing Australia should understand is that China is not in favor of solving problems through sanctions.
However, trade and economic relations can be affected by politics. Developing normal cooperation between countries requires an approach based on equality and mutual benefit. Australia cannot simultaneously berate China and at the same time seek to benefit from trade and economic relations with the PRC.”We don’t want Australia to set up political barriers, we don’t want them to be part of the ‘anti-China chorus,’ we don’t want them to create the ‘Chinese threat’ artificially, we don’t want them to set so-called criteria that divide [countries] and use them to judge which countries are democratic and which are not.”Australia is not a judge in an international court and has no right to make irresponsible political statements. To begin with, there must be good political relations, there must be normal interstate relations based on the norms of international relations and the UN Charter, and only then can normal trade and economic relations emerge,” Shen said.Australia has recently sent out strong signals that it want to improve relations with China. According to a report on national radio broadcasting company, ABC, Australia’s Premier Anthony Albanese recently said that he hoped to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit. According to Shen, the Australian premier’s words about his desire to meet with Xi and restore normal trade and economic relations between the countries are consonant with the Chinese side’s hope. Despite the fact that the Australian government is sometimes unable to resolve issues on its own and is forced to depend on the US, it is to be hoped that the country is still willing to act in its own national interests and intends to improve relations with China.”It seems that now many European countries, although being allies of the US, for their own national interests they still choose to develop relations with China, they do not want to sever ties with it, but want to go together on a mutually beneficial path with China. The visit of the Federal Chancellor of Germany to China is proof of this. Australia is actually doing the same, based on its own national interests, hoping to restore trade and economic relations with China,” the Chinese expert said.Shen stressed that China could decide on further steps based on Australia’s concrete actions. If Australia behaves rationally rather than doing America’s bidding, the prospects for improving Canberra-Beijing relations are quite good.”I hope that the new Australian government, on an equal footing with many countries around the world, including US allies, also wants to improve relations with China. Australia has benefited a great deal from its cooperation with China before, and as one of the beneficiary parties, it must choose the right path. Thus, I hope that the relationship between China and Australia will have an opportunity to change for the better,” the expert said.China is Australia’s main trading partner. According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade between the countries reached $231.2Bln in 2021 – up 35.1 percent on 2020 levels. China’s imports in 2021 from Australia amounted to $164.8Bln, up 40.6 percent on 2020.
