Flashpoint: Australia-China Relations

E&OE TRANSCRIPTTELEVISION INTERVIEWFLASHPOINT, SEVEN WA25 MAY 2020JournalistFormer prime minister Kevin Rudd thought China was so important to our nation, he learned to speak Mandarin when he was at university. He is worried about what is unfolding. I spoke to him earlier. Kevin Rudd, you know China well. You've seen it flex its muscle before on the international stage, not really with Australia though. Are we in new territory now?Kevin RuddFor Australia, yes, we are. During my period as prime minister, we had many disagreements with China, but we really are in new terrain. And of course, WA grain farmers are carrying a fair bit of the burden here.JournalistYou could argue the WA economy particularly is more exposed to ruptions between us and China than any other states in this country. Iron ore, LNG, are they next on the list, do you think?Kevin RuddI would think that iron ore sales would be relatively secure. LNG I'm more concerned about. And the simple reason is that there are other sources of supply on offer [inaudible] with depressed energy prices at present. When we start to get to the sale of education services, and I'm sure UWA and Murdoch and Edith Cowan universities in WA also sell a large number of education services to China. That's an exposed sector. Tourism I think is particularly exposed to be blunt.JournalistOne of those abattoirs that they also restricted imports from is wholly Chinese-owned. What's that about?Kevin RuddChina is a huge political system. So when the message comes down from on high to punish Australia, quote-unquote, then frankly the decisions then become almost automatic, political and bureaucratic, without any sort of sensibility to the commercial realities which then unfold on the ground. It's the nature of this Marxist-Leninist system which is completely alien to the way in which our politics and frankly our economy is conducted.JournalistIf Scott Morrison came to you and asked for your help to be a special envoy, if you will, between Australia and China to help smooth tensions. How would you respond to that? Would you take up the offer?Kevin RuddWell, I just noticed that I haven't got any missed calls from 'Scotty from Marketing' in the last few months. Maybe, maybe I've changed phones or something? But, look, the bottom line is, after Mr Morrison won the last election, I went to see him at Kirribilli. I just rang him up and said, look, to the extent that I can offer any insight on this, here are a few thoughts in terms of how to manage the China relationship. The impression I got is that all went in one ear and out the other.JournalistDo you ever see it getting to a point where there might be conflict in our region?Kevin RuddI'm sad to say that the possibility of armed conflict is increasing. And the reason I say that is for two reasons explicitly. The sharper and sharper exchanges now between the United States and its allies in the South China Sea. But more importantly, the growing chasm between American and Chinese positions on the future of Taiwan. It's the latter in particular that we need to maintain a razor-sharp focus on for the future.JournalistThank you so much for your time.Kevin RuddOK, happy to help guys. All the best over there.