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Letters | Why Australia will regret making an enemy of China
- Australia has led the “attack China on all fronts” brigade. To do that and still wish to trade with and make money from China is wishful thinking
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Why you can trust SCMP
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With everything, there is a season, and China’s season is almost about to go into full bloom. And Australia will be the first to be excluded from its benefits.
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The last four years with Donald Trump and the Western media rhetoric painting China as the aggressive militant power could not be further from the truth. Scott Morrison’s leading of the charge to appease the United States by setting policies to contain China has only damaged Australia’s own economy.
Several surveys released last month show that the citizens of both China and Australia have a growing unease with each other. But to understand China and to get along with China is simple.
Two key “musts”:
1) Respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. And of course, the infamous “nine-dash line”.
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No pressure, naval ships, sanctions nor Quads will make China concede on these issues and, as time goes by, even less so, as China returns to the top in the geopolitical scheme of things.
2) Treat China with the respect due to a No 2 nation moving into the No 1 position. And allow it the same opportunities to invest and grow as for any other leading country.
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