Actually no. I didn't just Google the numbers. I know all about this shit. I know all about this finance and economics shit. I was spending most of my online time in the finance/econ blogs and finance Twitter. But I wanted to take a break from it. Which is why I'm posting more often on TD.
Anyway Australia finds itself in a very unorthodox situation. If it had any sense , it would play the US and China the way Thailand and Philippines are playing it. They aren't being pushover lapdogs for the US.
Last edited by Backspin; 16-09-2020 at 06:38 AM.
Impressive . . . what is the GDP of the Matagalpa Region in Nicaragua? No googling now.
Ok . . .
And neither is Australia (you'd better check with the two examples you noted, though). Australia has its own standards that direct its trade policies - some coincide with that of the US, some don't.
Your over-simplification is amusing . . .
Well, I think every rational person should consider what puts food on your plate. 46% of aussie exports go to China. So lets pick a fight with them, and be The donalds pathetic dept'y Sheriff. Yeh, real smart.
Reminds me of this I saw wee while back, didn't read it at all it just made me giggle:
Chinese newspaper claims Australia becoming 'poor white trash of Asia' - NZ Herald
Chinese newspaper claims Australia becoming 'poorwhite trash of Asia'
Poor white trash. Hmmmph.
That’s poor multicultural trash thank you.
And not an original line either.
A nice bit of racism thrown in . . . imagine The Age or the SMH publishing an article about the Poor Yellow trash of Asia . . . oh, how they would howl with feigned indignation and the government would remind the world how China suffered and was humiliated for 110 years . . . as they always do.
At the end of the day there shouldn't be any reason for Chinese to want to escape, errrr, emigrate to Oz . . . by the hundreds of thousands
^ You're speaking the truth there.
Well this should make you feel better- Chinese investment in oz real estate has dropped by close to 50% over the last year. As for the drop in Uni students, no problem- we'll just replace them with Somalians.
Petulant chinky wankers.... their childish rhetoric is quite hilarious.
And shame on the kow-towing uni administrators for grovelling to the whiny bastards.
BRISBANE, Australia: An Australian university student who has never visited China and has only a modest social media following would seem an unlikely target for the Chinese government.
But when a foreign ministry spokesman personally denounced Drew Pavlou at a recent press conference, it was just the next phase in an extraordinary campaign against the 21-year-old that has fuelled concerns over China's targeting of critics overseas.
Pavlou first placed himself in the superpower's sights when he organised a small sit-in the University of Queensland, where he studied, in July last year to protest against various Chinese government policies.
Since then, the Global Times, a nationalist state-run tabloid, has published a series of articles branding him an "anti-China rioter" and portraying him as the face of alleged anti-Chinese racism in Australia.
Pavlou, a philosophy student, said he had also received death threats after one of China's envoys in Australia labelled him a "separatist".
The foreign ministry's targeting of Pavlou occurred last month when the spokesman was asked about a viral photograph showing a Chinese diplomat walking across people's backs in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati.
"There was a person named Drew Pavlou who revealed this photo. This person has always been anti-China out of political motives," the spokesman said, even though Pavlou neither took the photo nor was the first to share it.
Pavlou said he was playing Grand Theft Auto on his Xbox at the time and that he "was just absolutely shocked".
"It's very weird for a superpower to be focusing on one 21-year-old Aussie student, one Aussie bloke who fundamentally is pretty stupid and does a lot of dumb things," Pavlou told AFP.
At times, Pavlou's confrontational brand of activism has invited criticism, and made him a useful foil for Beijing.
He was accused of racism after posing outside his university's Chinese-funded Confucius Institute with a sign declaring it a "Covid-19 biohazard" early in the pandemic.
He now regrets the stunt, but still does not understand why Beijing has kept him in its sights.
One explanation is that his activism has touched a nerve.
As well as criticising China's violent crackdowns in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet, Pavlou has drawn attention to the cosy relationship between Australian universities and the Chinese state.
Those ties are now being investigated by several Australian authorities for fear the influx of Chinese cash may have jeopardised the national interest.
Elaine Pearson, Australia director for Human Rights Watch, said a "thin-skinned" Beijing had only drawn greater attention to Pavlou and his advocacy.
"It's pretty obvious from China's actions more broadly that it really has no tolerance for dissent or opposing views these days," Pearson said, adding the Chinese Communist Party's "long arm of authoritarianism" was now reaching across the globe.
Pavlou's antics also led the University of Queensland to amass a 186-page dossier of alleged disciplinary breaches against him, from incendiary social media posts to using a pen in a campus shop without paying for it.
After a closed-door hearing, Pavlou was suspended for two years, later reduced to the rest of 2020 on appeal.
Pavlou is suing the university, its chancellor and vice-chancellor for Aus$3.5 million ($2.5 million) for alleged breach of contract and defamation.
The university has faced high-profile criticism over its handling of Pavlou's case, including from former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who told local media the institution risked being seen as "bending the knee to Beijing".
Like many Australian colleges, the University of Queensland became highly dependent on tuition fees from international students to fund research and subsidise domestic student places.
About 182,000 Chinese students were enrolled in Australian universities in 2019, bringing an estimated $6.8 billion into the economy.
A University of Queensland spokeswoman denied any "political motivations" in pursuing disciplinary action against Pavlou.
"Neither of the findings of serious misconduct concerned Mr Pavlou's personal or political views about China or Hong Kong," she said, adding freedom of speech was "of utmost importance to UQ".
Pavlou said he "never set out to be a political activist" and just wanted to organise a single protest to "disrupt things on campus".
But while Pavlou said he was initially "naive", he does not appear to have been intimidated by China.
His Twitter bio now carries a cheeky reference to the spokesman's targeting of him: "Human rights and democracy activist. Youngest Australian ever denounced by the Chinese Foreign Ministry."
Young Australian an unlikely target for China's fury
Fears for Australians in China after Chinese consul named in AFP warrant over political interference investigation
A former senior Defence official and diplomat is calling for urgent action to protect Australians in China, in response to the ABC's revelations Australian police identified a Chinese consular official in a foreign interference investigation.
Key points:
A former diplomat has warned Australians in China may not be safe after a Chinese consular official was named in AFP warrants
Emails, messages and phone call lists involving Chinese diplomats were accessed as part of the investigation into political interference
The former diplomat, Allan Behm, says Australia's diplomacy with China is "in the pits" and requires urgent action
The ABC has revealed search warrants identify Chinese consul to Sydney, Sun Yantao, in connection with an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and spy agency ASIO into an alleged plot by Beijing to infiltrate the New South Wales Labor Party.
Mr Sun is responsible for managing relations with the Chinese diaspora and pro-Beijing organisations in Australia, and coordinating with China's foreign influence agency, the United Front Work Department.
Former diplomat and senior Defence official Allan Behm, who was also a federal government foreign policy adviser, said the move would worsen the diplomatic crisis between Australia and China.
"The Australian Government needs to act right now," said Mr Behm, who is head of the international and security program at the Australia Institute.
"It needs to warn Australians who are in China that they must be extremely careful — that they must do nothing that attracts attention or that might otherwise provoke the Chinese Government.
"If they have no real reason for conducting business in China at the moment, they would be pretty well advised to return to Australia."
Speaking to ABC News, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the investigation was focused on Australian citizens, suggesting consular officials such as Mr Sun would not be prosecuted.
"My understanding is that investigations that might be underway relate very much to potential foreign interference activities by publicised figures, who have been identified in the media, who are Australians," he said.
The joint investigation by the AFP and ASIO centres on John Zhisen Zhang, a policy adviser to NSW Upper House Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.
The ABC revealed last night Mr Zhang's emails, messages and records of phone calls with top-level Chinese diplomats had been accessed by authorities when they seized his laptops and phones in raids in June.
One man in a gold jacket and two men wearing suits and ties standing on stage in front of red banner
John Zhang, Shaoquett Moselmane and consul Sun Yantao at a Sydney event to mark the 2017 Chinese New Year.(Supplied)
The investigation is understood to have fed into the deepening diplomatic crisis between Australia and China, which earlier this month saw two Australian journalists, the ABC's correspondent Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review journalist Michael Smith, evacuated from China.
Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei was arrested in Beijing last month and has not been seen publicly since.
Australians left in China could be subject to investigations
Man in suit and tie reclines in chair in boardroom with hand on wooden table and closed window blinds behind him
Allan Behm, from the Australia Institute, served as an adviser and speechwriter for Penny Wong.(ABC News: Adam Kennedy)
The Federal Government recently warned Australians they are "at risk of arbitrary detention" in China.
Mr Behm, a former adviser to Labor's Penny Wong when she was foreign minister, said the latest developments in the foreign interference investigation represented a "very significant moment" in the relationship between the two countries.
"Australians who are resident in China, they could also become subject to all sorts of investigations and visits," he said.
"The Chinese Government doesn't sit down when other governments undertake what it regards as provocation. So we can expect that they will retaliate in one form or another."
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He believes identifying Mr Sun in the AFP warrants represents a major step by Australian authorities, but questions whether the Federal Government has a diplomatic strategy to manage the potential fallout.
Man in suit stands on stage behind podium with large blue graphic screen behind him
Consul Sun Yantao speaking at a Gala Dinner in Sydney in 2019(Supplied)
"It is a very big move to identify by name a Chinese diplomat, particularly the consul in Sydney, in a warrant, and it's an even bigger moment when that warrant becomes public information," he said.
"I doubt that there was very much at all by way of serious diplomatic consideration given to this — it looks very much like action without a plan.
At midnight, Chinese State Security police knocked on ABC journalist Bill Birtles' door.
A man smiles and waves his left hand while holding a disposable face mask.
He realised he was no longer safe in China. Read Birtles' account of the night he had to pack up his life and leave the country.
Read more
"At the moment, Australia's diplomacy with respect to China is absolutely in the pits. It is high time that the Australian Government listened carefully to its diplomats and actually builds a proper diplomatic policy and a strategic plan in the management of our relationship with China."
The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney has reacted angrily to the news of its consul Mr Sun being named in the AFP warrants, saying in a statement that accusations it "engaged in infiltration activities are totally baseless and nothing but vicious slanders".
"The Chinese consulate-general … always observes international law and basic norms of international relations while exercising duties in Australia," it said.
Messages, emails and phone call lists accessed
A graphic of four photos of Chinese individuals, including three men and one woman.
Chinese scholars Li Jianjun (top left) and Chen Hong (top right) and media officials Li Dayong (bottom left) and Tao Shelan (bottom right) were targeted in the investigation.(Supplied)
Last week, ABC Investigations reported senior Chinese media officials in Australia had been targeted and the visas of two leading Chinese scholars had been revoked as part of the investigation.
The homes of four Sydney-based Chinese journalists were also raided in June, prompting Chinese state media to declare Australia had "severely infring[ed] on the legitimate rights of Chinese journalists".
Yesterday it was revealed the man at the heart of the investigation, Mr Zhang, had accused Australian authorities of breaching Australian and international law by intercepting his communications with China's top-level diplomats and their families in Australia.
Two men wearing suits stand in busy street with many people behind them
Shaoquett Moselmane and John Zhang at a street festival.(Facebook)
Mr Zhang, who has advised Mr Moselmane since 2018, formally complained to Australian Federal Government ministers his phone and computer were searched at Sydney Airport in January after he and his family arrived back from China, as well as in June during raids on his home and office.
Those devices contained emails, messages and records of calls with Chinese diplomatic and consular officials and some of their family members.
Mr Zhang's written complaints accuse the ABF and AFP of breaching two of the most sacred international treaties enshrined in Australian law — the Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations — which protect the communications of diplomatic officials.
Two men in suits stand in lavish dining room with chandelier and red curtain visible behind.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and John Zhang at an event in 2018.(Supplied)
The AFP suspects Mr Zhang and his alleged accomplices broke Australia's foreign interference laws, alleging they chatted with Mr Moselmane in a "covert" social media group and concealed they were collaborating with China's leading espionage and foreign influence agencies.
Mr Zhang could face up to 15 years in jail if charged and convicted of foreign interference.
Both he and Mr Moselmane deny any wrongdoing.
The Home Affairs Department and the AFP have declined to comment.
https://www.abc. net.au/news/2020-09-16/australia-china-diplomatic-crisis-after-consul-named-in-warrant/12668424
For sure the chinkies will pick some random Aussie in Chinastan and accuse them of spying or some shit in their usual bully-boy tit-for-tat response.
Ex Australian naval officer too, and obviously an aussie citizen. Somehow can't imagine you ever did time in the Armed forces of any country!A) You're a Brit
How did Australia disrespect China?
Australia is being brave or stupid. Not sure which, but I don’t see it as a fair fight anyway. The Chinese inherent philosophy is to beat the enemy with a bigger stick. Australia prefers to follow the roots of a British system of diplomacy.
its worth reminding Australia that, despite many fine qualities, it lacks history, especially in diplomacy and single minded belligerence. Such belligerence was consigned to the British scrap heap during the death of the empire. Australia, while following the Brit MO, does not have British history of shedding big mistakes to fall back on.
I suspect this lack of history will be their downfall in the long run. China can afford to drop Oz, but the opposite is not true. It will end badly, unless Australia learns diplomacy and patience, or they buy bigger sticks (unlikely).
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