Yahoo Finance Kevin Rudd says Scott Morrison's 'public relations eggbeater' is harming relationship with Beijing
The former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has accused Scott Morrison of overhyping the significance of a new defence agreement with Japan in a manner likely to draw a strong response from China.
Rudd, in an interview with the Guardian, argued the prime minister oversold a relatively mundane logistical agreement in Tokyo, citing it as an example of the Coalition taking a “public relations eggbeater” to foreign affairs rather than considering how to prevent “avoidable problems with Beijing”.
Against the backdrop of worsening tensions with China, which reached a new intensity this week over a controversial tweet from a Beijing-based official, Rudd also contended there were domestic political incentives within Morrison’s Liberal party to sound “hairy-chested on China”.
The former federal Labor leader acknowledged aspects of China’s engagement with the world were beyond the Australian government’s control, but he suggested Morrison had erred in his public presentation of events in Tokyo last month.
Related: European Union condemns China over 'irresponsible' tweet about Australian military
After meeting in person with the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, the Liberal leader issued a statement lauding the “landmark defence treaty”, on which the pair had reached in-principle agreement, adding its significance “cannot be understated”.
Rudd welcomed the agreement – aimed at better facilitating training and exercises in either other’s countries – but said Morrison’s language made it sound like a defence pact “where we have mutual security obligations to come to each other’s aid in the event of an attack”.
“If you want a clear living case study of how the public relations eggbeater is taken to these sorts of initiatives, that’s it – way in excess of what is actually a pretty mundane operational agreement which we have with armed forces around the world,” the ex-prime minister said.
Rudd said it was an example of “putting a premium on domestic political messaging in Australia and putting a zero premium on its foreign policy impact in terms of avoidable problems with Beijing”.
At a doorstop interview in Tokyo, Morrison argued the deal should not cause any concerns to Beijing because it “adds to the stability of the region”. Morrison also took care after the meeting with Suga to say that “the economic success of China is a good thing for Australia and Japan”.
But Chinese state media swiftly warned that Australia and Japan would “pay a corresponding price” if the new agreement threatened China’s security while arguing it “accelerates the confrontational atmosphere in the Asia-Pacific region”.
Related: Morrison asks for dialogue with China as other countries pledge support for Australia
China-Australia relations had already been under intense strain. Asked whether a tweak in messaging would really have made a difference to how Beijing interpreted the agreement, Rudd acknowledged Chinese officials were “keen observers of what’s going on”.
“But at the very point you publicly proclaim this to be a defence alliance – and that’s what Morrison did – you automatically invite a Chinese reaction at a public level as opposed to what I would describe as more of an operational reaction,” Rudd said.
“That turbocharges what I’ve described as the public dynamics of the Australia-China relationship in a direction which is way in excess of the operational difficulties which the Japanese and the Koreans and other American allies have in managing their overall relationship.”
Rudd said two causes for the tensions between Canberra and Beijing were outside Australia’s control: an increasingly powerful China was pursuing a more assertive foreign policy than in the past and that process had been “turbocharged” under Xi Jinping’s leadership.
But, Rudd said, a third driving factor in the tensions was “how the Australian government under Morrison chooses to engage in the public language of the relationship” and the prime minister’s inclination “to engage in a rolling public commentary about the Australia-China relationship and about every manner of its disagreements with Beijing”.
Rudd advocated continuing to augment Australia’s national power and influence in the wider region, including working with partners in the South Pacific, deepening relationships with south-east Asian nations, and increasing security ties with Japan and South Korea.
He said the Morrison government should work with the incoming Biden administration to ensure any recalibration of the US-China relationship also allowed space for a stabilisation of Australia-China ties.
If and when the relationship stabilised, Australia and China should establish a bilateral diplomatic process to handle outstanding disagreements so the rest of the partnership could proceed in an orderly fashion. Morrison this week renewed his plea for “open and regular dialogue” with Beijing.
Rudd said this week’s tweet by Joe Biden’s incoming national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in support of Australia sent an important signal to China.
The Australian people have made great sacrifices to protect freedom and democracy around the world. As we have for a century, America will stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally Australia and rally fellow democracies to advance our shared security, prosperity, and values.
— Jake Sullivan (@jakejsullivan) December 2, 2020
Rudd also said the “useful statements” of support from the EU, the UK, Germany, France and New Zealand sent “a political message to Beijing that Australia doesn’t stand alone”.
But that solidarity would be tested if China offered market access to various European or Californian wine suppliers as an alternative to Australian wines, following the introduction of new tariffs of up to 200%.
China’s commerce ministry warned this week that the temporary anti-dumping measures on Australian wine imports – which were meant to last up to four months – could be extended to nine months under special circumstances.
The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, used a speech to the foreign diplomatic corps in Canberra on Friday to declare Australia would be “true to our values” and not be “a bystander” in seeking to shape the Indo-Pacific region.
But a former foreign affairs secretary and defence chief, Dennis Richardson, offered a gloomy assessment of China-Australia relations, telling the ABC it would take 12 to 18 months to “get back into a steady-state” but the type of relationship they had in the past was “dead and buried”.
