Author: Sourabh Gupta, ICAS
The Australia–China relationship has been in the deep doldrums for some time now. Australian commentary pins the blame for the deterioration of bilateral ties on ‘China’s aggressive attempt to expand the domestic authoritarianism of [Chinese] President Xi Jinping into the Indo-Pacific region’. In the dominant narrative the contention that the Australian national security establishment’s sledging transformed China into the enemy gets short shrift. But Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update is more-or-less premised on this reading of China.
Australia’s ‘China-has-changed’ narrative doesn’t explain damagingly bad ties (eastasiaforum.org)
