This week’s resumption of the Australia-China High Level Dialogue is a further opportunity to stabilise and strengthen the relationship between our two countries. Nothing is lost and much can be gained by working with China to find common ground on issues relating to trade, investment, education and decarbonisation.
The dialogue will include senior representatives of industry, government, academia, media and the arts.
My co-chair of the dialogue will be former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing. His delegation will comprise senior Chinese officials and academics.
Australia’s 18-member delegation covers interests as diverse as higher education, tourism, transport, culture and media.
The participation in the delegation of former foreign minister, Julie Bishop, who co-chaired the forum from 2014 to 2018 and will convene one of the dialogue sessions, adds a level of bipartisanship.
And the presence in the delegation of secretary of the department of foreign affairs and trade, Jan Adams, and Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, will provide high-level official engagement from the Australian side.
As chairman of the Business Council of Australia’s Global Engagement Committee, Warwick Smith will add deep experience in managing the relationship from a business perspective, along with Margy Osmond representing tourism and transport, and Tennant Reid on climate change and energy at the Australian Industry Group.
The establishment of the annual High Level Dialogue was announced by both governments during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Australia in November 2014. However, the dialogue hasn’t been held since 2020. Former prime minister John Howard led the Australian delegation in January 2020 and in 2019.
The dialogue’s resumption was agreed by foreign ministers Penny Wong and Wang Yi during Senator Wong’s visit to China in December last year. It complements the broader resumption of ministerial meetings and visits, including those of prime minister Anthony Albanese, trade minister Don Farrell, treasurer Jim Chalmers and defence minister Richard Marles.
On the trade front, Senator Farrell, supported by Senators Wong and Watt, has achieved with his Chinese counterpart the removal of restrictions on Australian timber logs, coal and barley. This week’s delegation includes representatives of the Australian wine industry.
By comprising a mixture of government officials and private participants, the dialogue constitutes what is known as 1.5 track diplomacy. It is not a negotiating forum designed to achieve diplomatic or economic breakthroughs. Rather, it is intended to increase understanding of each side’s perspectives, which can be of value in subsequent government-to-government discussions.
It would not be useful to canvas sensitive issues ahead of the dialogue, but it is expected on both sides that the discussions will be fearless, frank and friendly. All 18 Australian delegation members will be given an opportunity to speak.
China and Australia can strengthen our bilateral relationship and uphold our national interests if both countries navigate their differences wisely.
We are always better off when we talk to each other, calmly and directly. The High Level Dialogue will play a useful role in facilitating those discussions.
Both countries have had their wolf warriors. Beyond seeking to appeal to segments of their domestic audiences, it is not clear what constructive purpose they have served in the Australia-China relationship.
China is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner, bigger than the next four countries combined. This is a product of the complementarity between our two economies and the political engagement begun by Gough Whitlam with his historic recognition of the People’s Republic of China.
While efforts to diversify our markets are prudent, any suggestion that Australia must decouple from China is madness. We will continue to have our differences, but the trick is to manage those differences without artificially magnifying them for base domestic political purposes.
China is going through a rough patch economically, but it will roar back. As set out in the Gillard government’s white paper on Australia in the Asian Century, our relationship with China will evolve from the supply of raw materials such as iron ore, coal and gas into services such as health, aged care and tertiary education.
And we will surely learn from each other on our efforts for decarbonisation and find areas of cooperation in reducing emissions and switching to renewable energy supply and minerals processing.
With wise statecraft and a deeper understanding of each other’s history and culture, Australia and China can learn to agree where we can, disagree where we must and work together for a peaceful, prosperous Asia-Pacific region.
If this week’s High Level Dialogue contributes to that task it will have been well worth the effort of both delegations and our two governments.
Craig Emerson is leader of the Australian delegation and co-chair of the Australia-China High Level Dialogue to be held this week. He is a former Australian trade minister and architect of the Gillard government’s white paper on Australia in the Asian Century.