A recent Lowy Institute report may suggest Australians are uncomfortable about some aspects of the Australia-China relations, but China still has a strong role to play in everyday Australian society writes Rowan Callick. 

I ended the last column for China Connections, which ranged over the issues that had been causing friction between the Chinese and Australian government, by saying that this “left hanging, the extent to which it is possible to quarantine such differences and carry on building and developing the relationship, as many in both countries continue to hope.”
Sensible voices have mostly, since then, prevailed. Issues on which it is likely to prove impossible to find common ground, are being left in the too-hard basket. And the economic relationship, in particular, has continued to develop. Major deals – led by the $50 billion purchase by PetroChina of liquefied natural gas from Shell, to come from the Gorgon field off Western Australia – have been announced.
Political meetings have resumed at the top level. When Climate Change Minister Penny Wong visited Beijing in mid October, she met Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is expected to become Premier from 2012. And a massive group of more than 300 top business and political leaders were due to accompany Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua and HK Chief Secretary Henry Tang to Sydney at the end of October, for a celebration – and a focused business session – to mark the 30th anniversary of the sister-state relationship between New South Wales and Guangdong.
Some hand-wringing continues. Blame is still being laid at various political and business doors. Media stories are still published, meetings all over Australia have been held to discuss the concerns.
I participated in a panel session on Australia-China relations at the Melbourne China Studies Group, which attracted the group’s biggest crowd for years – the room was packed, standing-room only. At the time, I noted that it was a sign of the vitality of the relationship, that so many people were expressing a concern about it; that it was very unlikely, that packed meetings were being held about the state of Australia-Finland relations, say.
The federal opposition has gone quiet on the issue, and this has made it easier for the government too to maintain a low profile on China relations. The Dalai Lama is still visiting Australia in the first week in December, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ruled out meeting him, on the grounds that he is a frequent flyer to Australia.
The Dalai Lama’s supporters replied that Rudd had not met the Tibetan leader-in-exile since early 2007, but the prime minister is most unlikely to change his mind – especially since US President Barack Obama also avoided seeing the Dalai Lama when he came to Washington in early October, saying he needed first to visit Beijing, which he will do in November.
The Lowy Institute, Australia’s only foreign policy think-tank (funded principally by Frank Lowy, the developer of vast numbers of shopping malls in Australia and the USA, who is one of the three wealthiest people in the country), began conducting polls on Australian attitudes to foreign policy issues in 2005.
This year’s poll was conducted from July 13-25 when 1,003 Australians over 18, assessed as nationally representative, were interviewed by telephone. China was chosen as a special topic to be surveyed. But when the poll was taken, violence had just erupted in Xinjiang, and Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu had just been arrested in Shanghai.
On the scale of warmth towards other countries, with 100 degrees as the hottest, New Zealand came top at 83 degrees, China exactly in the middle of the 17 countries that respondents were asked to evaluate, at a lukewarm 53 degrees, the same as South Korea.

In other responses:

On investment: half said the Australian government is allowing too much from China, 42 per cent the right amount, and just 3 percent not enough. That underlines how far from mainstream Australian views – and thus how far from political influence – is the lobby that attacks the Foreign Investment Review Board as over-discriminatory. More Australians older than 45, and more women, were critical of the amount of investment being permitted.
On China’s rise to become the leading power in Asia: 95 percent said it already is, or will become so. 52 percent were “very uncomfortable” or “somewhat uncomfortable” about this, the other 48 percent very or somewhat comfortable. Younger Australians and men tended to be more comfortable than older people and women.
On China as a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years: 57 percent said that this is very or somewhat unlikely. 41 percent said it is very or somewhat likely.
On whether, “in dealing with China’s rise, the Australian government should undertake friendly cooperation and engagement”: 91 percent were in favour.
But 46 per cent went on to say that “the Australian government should actively work to limit the growth of China’s power,” while 52 percent disagreed.
And to end on a positive note. Readers who live in or visit Melbourne, should be aware of the city’s excellent Chinese Museum, just off Little Bourke Street in the heart of the historic Chinatown that was founded in the Gold Rush era 150 years ago.
Our 12 year old son, a Hong Kong Chinese boy, recently visited with a school party and was so proud of the museum, of the lively culture that surrounds it, and that he was able to speak some Chinese with the tour guide.
Bendigo, centre of the Gold Rush, has an even bigger Chinese museum.
Which other foreign country or culture merits any museums to itself in Australia? That’s easy. None. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t have more – my old home, Papua New Guinea, would be an obvious contender – but that China still stands out as a very special place and culture for Australians.■

*Rowan Callick is the Asia-Pacific editor of The Australian.