Arabic version: سفير سابق يقول إن العلاقات مع الصين لا تزال هشة

According to ABC News, Australia’s former ambassador to China Graham Fletcher has warned that the relationship remains fragile and vulnerable to shocks, with stability set to “remain a goal, not a given” for Canberra.

In a new report for the Lowy Institute, Fletcher said the government appeared to regard a “modest new normal” in the relationship as “good enough”. He said Canberra had quietly rebuffed Chinese efforts to expand cooperation on infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

Fletcher said China’s campaign of economic coercion had shown Australia that any leverage Beijing believed it held could be used during times of political need. He said it was therefore prudent not to allow such leverage to accumulate.

The former ambassador, who took up the Beijing post in 2019 and helped oversee the relationship’s stabilisation after Labor took office in 2022, said Australia and China would never be close because of their sharply different views of regional affairs and national security.

He said a further downturn could follow an accumulation of serious disagreements that cannot be managed. Fletcher identified Canberra’s efforts to return the Port of Darwin to Australian ownership as a possible source of tension, and said unrest or a political crisis in the Pacific Islands could intensify the contest for influence between the two countries.