Australian Government Needs to Set China Policy or It Will Lose Control

Australian Government Needs to Set China Policy or It Will Lose Control
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Oct. 22, 2018. AAP/Mick Tsikas/Reuters
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Three big recent developments threaten the federal government’s control over its most difficult strategic policy challenge: the direction of Australia’s China policy. While Canberra worries about how its statements play in Beijing, the states and territories, bus­inesses and universities are ­quickly driving their own engagement with China.

Unless our federal government better explains the national security risks, Australia’s relations with China will be driven by groups interested in economic engagement, not national security.

Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
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