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Why Australia and China can't quite get along [video]

3 points by graderjs 4y ago

hilbert42 4y ago
I can remember when the only things Australia bought from China were firecrackers. At that time in the 1960s my father used to say repeatedly to me that by 2000 China would be a force to be reckoned with and that we'd better watch our step very carefully. I recall my father's warning right from the time when in the 1970s the then Australian Labor Prime Minister Whitlam kowtowed to China in the most embarrassing way and I have since watched in horror as Australian diplomatic reason and prudence have given way to economic greed. Australia putting all its eggs into one basket with China has been both a political and strategic disaster for the country. Australia was once essentially self sufficient in just about everything including manufactured goods—now just about everything comes from China—thus we've not only decimated all our manufacturing industries but we've also become an economic slave of China—and with escape now impossible, China is tightening the screws. It's been just horrible to watch this country's blind slide from independence into Chinese captivity. When told the political facts by my father it was obvious even to me as a kid what would happen. If over 50 years ago it was obvious to many ordinary Australians the kind of mire Australia would end up in if it became embroiled with China then how his did this happen? Simple ready, when greedy exporters got to rule over Australian government policy then the die was set. Unfortunately, Australia is a slow learner, as getting into bed with China wasn't the first time the country was bitten this way. In the late 1930s Australia sold iron to Japan against better judgment and soon it was on the receiving end of the same iron in the form of bullets and shrapnel. It was such a scandal that the then prime minister Robert Menzies got the nick name of Pig Iron Bob. Frankly, the whole China episode irks me so much—given that it could have been largely avoided—that I wished lived somewhere else (by not seeing its negative effects on a daily basis at least it wouldn't be on my mind as much). _ Edit: Since read this HN article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33190076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33190076. Australia hasn't been alone in making bad strategic policy decisions.

3 points by graderjs 4y ago

I can remember when the only things Australia bought from China were firecrackers. At that time in the 1960s my father used to say repeatedly to me that by 2000 China would be a force to be reckoned with and that we'd better watch our step very carefully. I recall my father's warning right from the time when in the 1970s the then Australian Labor Prime Minister Whitlam kowtowed to China in the most embarrassing way and I have since watched in horror as Australian diplomatic reason and prudence have given way to economic greed. Australia putting all its eggs into one basket with China has been both a political and strategic disaster for the country. Australia was once essentially self sufficient in just about everything including manufactured goods—now just about everything comes from China—thus we've not only decimated all our manufacturing industries but we've also become an economic slave of China—and with escape now impossible, China is tightening the screws. It's been just horrible to watch this country's blind slide from independence into Chinese captivity. When told the political facts by my father it was obvious even to me as a kid what would happen. If over 50 years ago it was obvious to many ordinary Australians the kind of mire Australia would end up in if it became embroiled with China then how his did this happen? Simple ready, when greedy exporters got to rule over Australian government policy then the die was set. Unfortunately, Australia is a slow learner, as getting into bed with China wasn't the first time the country was bitten this way. In the late 1930s Australia sold iron to Japan against better judgment and soon it was on the receiving end of the same iron in the form of bullets and shrapnel. It was such a scandal that the then prime minister Robert Menzies got the nick name of Pig Iron Bob. Frankly, the whole China episode irks me so much—given that it could have been largely avoided—that I wished lived somewhere else (by not seeing its negative effects on a daily basis at least it wouldn't be on my mind as much). _ Edit: Since read this HN article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33190076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33190076. Australia hasn't been alone in making bad strategic policy decisions.