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Chinese community in Australia vote against tough on China party

3 points by holografix 4y ago

car_analogy 4y ago
Likewise, China can't be too tough on Australia, or the Australian community in China will vote... oh. Never mind.
- holografix 4y ago
  China has roughly 64x bigger population than Australia. Shouldn’t the mouse be careful with the elephant? The elephant might crush the mouse simply because it wanted to sit down without ever worrying about the mouse.
  - ggm 4y ago
    The elephant is playing in the mouses backyard (solomon islands) stepping over intervening issues (spratleys) into fresh waters. It's like Japan funding an airstrip in Guam, or .. Hawaii and then quietly asking the Aleutian Islands to let them do naval warfare and sea landing rehersals. That's the projected fear in future, right now they are just signing cooperation agreements to fund other things. Well like that if Guam, Hawaii and Aleutian Islands were not US territory but more like (once, now less) friendly nation states.
    - simonblack 4y ago
      Prior to the elephant playing in the mouse's back yard, the mouse thought he could play in the elephant's back yard and be annoying with no consequences. Plenty of FONOPS by Australian planes and ships in the South China Sea over the last seven or eight years. Australia's Defence Policy Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTCqXlDjx18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTCqXlDjx18
      - ggm 4y ago
        yes. the whole "freedom of the seas" thing has rather invited some response like the recent sail-by in the AU EEZ. And in like sense, every time Australia implies "we should take this to an international court" I wince because of what we did with East Timor and the international court of arbitration. Its like the anti-set of whataboutery: when you actually do something which invites the "what about... you" case. so if this was ONLY about freedom of the seas, I have no particular concern with China sending its INT ship past the WA coastline in our EEZ. or anywhere else. But when China signs bilats with island nations which go to internal policing and defence, I'd have to say thats a step unlike any taken by Australia inside China. On the other hand, we did use five-eyes to lock Huawei out of trade, and that did rather invite China locking Australia out of some strategic issues. None of this really relates to the attempt to weaponise the chinese language, mainland-china related voting community in a general election: it backfired. They will be more cautious next time.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
throwaway4good 4y ago
Play the anti-Chinese card and loose the vote of the people you vilify. Hardly a surprise.
- ggm 4y ago
  The nuance of anti Chinese government != anti Chinese got lost in translation
  - throwaway4good 4y ago
    Unfortunately the issue of race is right underneath the surface in Australia. Morrison knew very well what forces he was playing with and luckily he overplayed his hand.
ge96 4y ago
I don't understand that title "against tough"?
- ggm 4y ago
  Vote against "tough on chyna" party I want to add that it's a gross simplification to say Chinese Australians "like" what's going on in mainland politics. They're much more nuanced than a one button outcome. I think they like the liberal world view, (liberal in Australia doesn't mean what it does in the US) but not the aggrevated tensions with the Chinese state. Many have family ties back in the mainland, come and go, anything for a quiet life... To be Chinese ethnicity but vote in Australia they have to renounce Chinese citizenship and so they are already somewhat constrained in how they engage with things "back home" There are probably good parallels to the fracture in Cuban American culture facing sanctions, its bankable in Miami and possibly nowhere else. Or Iranian Americans (or should I say persian americans) who repudiate the politics but love their homeland intensely? Amping up sanctions on Tehran splits views here. Well.. one party tried to weaponise it in the Oz elections and it backfired.

3 points by holografix 4y ago

car_analogy 4y ago

Likewise, China can't be too tough on Australia, or the Australian community in China will vote... oh. Never mind.

holografix 4y ago
China has roughly 64x bigger population than Australia. Shouldn’t the mouse be careful with the elephant? The elephant might crush the mouse simply because it wanted to sit down without ever worrying about the mouse.
- ggm 4y ago
  The elephant is playing in the mouses backyard (solomon islands) stepping over intervening issues (spratleys) into fresh waters. It's like Japan funding an airstrip in Guam, or .. Hawaii and then quietly asking the Aleutian Islands to let them do naval warfare and sea landing rehersals. That's the projected fear in future, right now they are just signing cooperation agreements to fund other things. Well like that if Guam, Hawaii and Aleutian Islands were not US territory but more like (once, now less) friendly nation states.
  - simonblack 4y ago
    Prior to the elephant playing in the mouse's back yard, the mouse thought he could play in the elephant's back yard and be annoying with no consequences. Plenty of FONOPS by Australian planes and ships in the South China Sea over the last seven or eight years. Australia's Defence Policy Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTCqXlDjx18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTCqXlDjx18
    - ggm 4y ago
      yes. the whole "freedom of the seas" thing has rather invited some response like the recent sail-by in the AU EEZ. And in like sense, every time Australia implies "we should take this to an international court" I wince because of what we did with East Timor and the international court of arbitration. Its like the anti-set of whataboutery: when you actually do something which invites the "what about... you" case. so if this was ONLY about freedom of the seas, I have no particular concern with China sending its INT ship past the WA coastline in our EEZ. or anywhere else. But when China signs bilats with island nations which go to internal policing and defence, I'd have to say thats a step unlike any taken by Australia inside China. On the other hand, we did use five-eyes to lock Huawei out of trade, and that did rather invite China locking Australia out of some strategic issues. None of this really relates to the attempt to weaponise the chinese language, mainland-china related voting community in a general election: it backfired. They will be more cautious next time.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

throwaway4good 4y ago

Play the anti-Chinese card and loose the vote of the people you vilify. Hardly a surprise.

ggm 4y ago
The nuance of anti Chinese government != anti Chinese got lost in translation
- throwaway4good 4y ago
  Unfortunately the issue of race is right underneath the surface in Australia. Morrison knew very well what forces he was playing with and luckily he overplayed his hand.

ge96 4y ago

I don't understand that title "against tough"?

ggm 4y ago
Vote against "tough on chyna" party I want to add that it's a gross simplification to say Chinese Australians "like" what's going on in mainland politics. They're much more nuanced than a one button outcome. I think they like the liberal world view, (liberal in Australia doesn't mean what it does in the US) but not the aggrevated tensions with the Chinese state. Many have family ties back in the mainland, come and go, anything for a quiet life... To be Chinese ethnicity but vote in Australia they have to renounce Chinese citizenship and so they are already somewhat constrained in how they engage with things "back home" There are probably good parallels to the fracture in Cuban American culture facing sanctions, its bankable in Miami and possibly nowhere else. Or Iranian Americans (or should I say persian americans) who repudiate the politics but love their homeland intensely? Amping up sanctions on Tehran splits views here. Well.. one party tried to weaponise it in the Oz elections and it backfired.