China-Australia relations are back on track. For the United States, there is a melancholy of "the flowers have fallen away without help"; for China, it is actually the old scene of "deja vu, the return of Yan".
The changes in Australia's relations with China have always been a recognition of history and reality; it is also an insistence on the situation and scope of the South Pacific.
In any case, if the current Australian government wants to improve relations, it needs more feedback on reality and a perception of China's strength.
1. This is how Australia came about
The full name of Australia is "Commonwealth of Australia". It is a "Commonwealth" country, with the King of England as its head of state.
Australia's national geographical location is really great. One country occupies one continent - the Australian continent; in this vast and sparsely populated continent, there are all kinds of resources.
In clearly recorded history, the Spanish navigator Torres and the Dutchman William Janes were the first to discover the Australian continent.
Torres sailed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea in 1606; William Janes actually landed in Australia and named it "New Netherlands".
In the Age of Discovery, the maritime supremacy was constantly changing. The Netherlands and Portugal were indeed more powerful at first, but they were soon surpassed by Spain. Spain was replaced by the United Kingdom. After they destroyed the Spanish Armada, they dominated the ocean.
In 1770, the British navigator James Cook arrived on the east coast of Australia. He did not know how big the land was, but he immediately declared the land to be owned by the British.
Subsequently, the British established a colony here. On January 26, 1788, Admiral Arthur Philip led the first batch of immigrants to arrive at Sydney Bay. This day was also designated as Australia Day.
Because it is too big here, there is no one there; and the UK happened to be at the outbreak of the industrial revolution . There were huge changes in the country, the number of unemployed people increased greatly, and the prisons were overcrowded.
The British government regarded the Australian mainland as a penal colony for criminals and kept sending them there; most of the prisoners were men, and there were not many women. The British captured many female prisoners and prostitutes in the country and sent them there.
In July 1900, the British Parliament passed the "Australian Federal Constitution" and the "British Dominion Ordinance"; in October 1901, the "Australian Federation" was established; in 1931, Australia became an independent country within the British Commonwealth. This is how a country was born.
Although Australia became an independent country in 1931, life in Australia was not easy, and the economy was very average. All their domestic affairs revolved around Britain.
until the end of World War II , human industrial development entered a new stage, Australia's huge domestic resources were valued, and the economy also prospered.
In terms of diplomacy, Australia also followed the United Kingdom. New China was established. The United Kingdom established diplomatic relations with China on March 13, 1972, and Australia also established diplomatic relations with New China on December 21, 1972.
As for the most important powers of an independent country - legislative power and judicial final adjudication power, Australia did not possess it until 1986. In the past, the United Kingdom helped them legislate and final adjudication.
2. Australia’s memory is one of “imposed fear” and “shame of betrayal”
In Australia’s short national memory, it has experienced complex emotions towards the UK, doubts about the Anglo-Japanese alliance and one-sided dependence on the United States. The reason why there are such complex memories stems from "imposed fear" and "shame of betrayal."
Complex feelings about Britain
The vast majority of Australians are white, and they are all white immigrants from the UK.
At that time, I discovered that Australia and the UK wanted to immigrate from the country. If you think about it, you will know that the aristocrats and rich people will not leave the UK. Only criminals, prostitutes and other people who have no life will immigrate to Australia half-willingly and half-forced.
These people are far away. It is natural for people to miss their homeland. It is also true that they still have complicated emotions towards Britain.
On the one hand, they were forced to move to Australia, which has a vast land and sparse population and a difficult life; on the other hand, they also have an innate sense of envy and obedience to the domestic nobility.
Therefore, from the beginning, Australia was willing to be behind the United Kingdom, and to this day it still retains the tradition of "the British king is the head of state". When Britain's overseas colonies became independent, Australia was not active.
King George VI and his wife
Australia is located in Asia, and other places are full of yellow people. It is only a white country, so Australia is particularly concerned about racial differences. "White Australia" has always existed in the minds of white people.
In short, being abandoned by the mother country, yearning for the homeland, loneliness in Asia, awareness of the white race, etc., constitute the complex psychology of Australians, which is both a realistic dilemma and a self-seeking.
Doubts about the Anglo-Japanese Alliance
Britain is very reassured about Australia because it cannot escape; as for Asia, how Britain wants to control it has always been the idea of colonialists . But it is obviously not possible to use Australia because they are not strong enough and geographically too far away.
At the beginning, the British wanted to control and Qing Dynasty and , and use Qing Dynasty as their agent in Asia. Therefore, when the Qing Dynasty established the Beiyang Navy , the United Kingdom helped a lot.
The Beiyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty was completely annihilated by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War, and Britain began to support Japan; especially when Japan and Tsarist Russia were about to fight, Britain, which had long hated Tsarist Russia, decisively formed an alliance with Japan.
Anglo-Japanese alliance propaganda poster
On January 30, 1902, Britain and Japan signed the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty" in London "against Russian expansion"; from 1904 to 1905, Tsarist Russia was beaten in the "Russian-Japanese War" with a swollen nose and a bruised face.
The British were so happy that they continued to sign "Alliance Treaties" with Japan in 1905 and 1911. In this treaty, Japan guaranteed British interests in Asia.
During World War I, Japan used the Anglo-Japanese alliance as an excuse to decisively declare war on Germany and gain a large amount of German territory in Asia.
After World War I, both the United States and Britain found that the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance" had hindered their interests in Asia. Therefore, at the Washington Conference in 1921, the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance" was terminated and replaced by the "Four-Power Pact" between Britain, France, the United States, and Japan.
Britain and Japan were fighting fiercely and even signed an alliance treaty. As an Asian country, Australia had mixed feelings; they had the psychological dilemma of being abandoned by Britain, and on the other hand, they insisted on the illusory superiority of being "white".
As a yellow race, Japan, with the support of the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance", expanded its power to the South Pacific and continued to approach Australia, making Australia not only uneasy and frightened in terms of security, but also psychologically humiliated and injured.
Australia's uneasiness is also justified. Japan's victories in the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and World War greatly stimulated Japan's ambitions. The voice of "driving the white people out of Asia and establishing co-prosperity in Greater East Asia" is very enthusiastic.
During World War II, the Japanese army was in Nanyang
Britain could no longer compete with Japan alone, and the United States quickly became the main force in the Pacific . Australia began to consider turning to the United States. On the basis of adhering to the racist "White Australia Policy", they eagerly hoped that the United States would accept them.
But the United States is not willing to offend Britain at this time, so it has always been lukewarm towards Australia.
One-sided dependence on the United States
It was World War II that made Australia completely turn to the United States.
After the outbreak of World War II, due to insufficient military strength, Britain transferred most of its troops from India, Australia and other colonies to the European battlefield. Because of the special relationship between Australia and Britain, all Australian troops were transferred by the British.
In 1940, Japan formally proposed the strategic goal of establishing a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"; on December 7, 1941, the Pacific War broke out. Japanese troops were killing everyone in the South Pacific, and Australia was also bombed by Japan.
At this time, Australia does not have a single soldier, what should we do? The Australian Prime Minister wrote to the British Prime Minister Churchill , asking the United Kingdom to return the Australian troops fighting in Europe because there is not a single soldier in Australia.
All the Australian troops were sent to Europe.
Churchill neither refused nor agreed. He just said that the European battlefield was very stalemate. "Once the heroic Australian troops leave, Germany can quickly establish its advantage."
Obviously, its own troops cannot come back, and Britain will not care about Australia's life and death at all. Australian Prime Minister Curtin was extremely sad and angry. He privately cursed the ruthlessness of the "mother country". This feeling resonated with the original "psychology" of white Australians.
On December 27, 1941, Australian Prime Minister Curtin published an article entitled "Future Tasks: Facing 1942" in the "Melbourne Tribune". On behalf of the Australian government, he announced in this way:
I declare without reservation that Australia will turn to the United States, and this will not do any harm to our close relationship with the United Kingdom. We know the problems facing the United Kingdom...
But we also know that Australia can walk on its own and the UK will still exist.
Therefore, we decided that Australia cannot go on as before. We will do our best in formulating plans and use the United States as the cornerstone of our policy...
Australia has fully turned to the United States and has become a die-hard brother of the United States; except for World War II, as long as there is a war in which the United States participates, the Australian army will definitely be there.
Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War
In the Korean Peninsula, the Australian army always acted as a vanguard for the US military; in the Vietnam War, the Australian army was the most reliable reinforcement of the US military;
Australia's "loyalty" performance has also been praised by the United States: "The US-Australia alliance is the 'anchor' for peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world." This is the praise given to Australia by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
3. Australia acted as a "coordinated police force" and was "uneasy" in its actions and "uneasy" mentally.
After World War II, the United States regarded itself as the "world police", but there are too many worlds to control. Australia, which is extremely loyal to the United States, became the "co-police" for the United States to monitor Asia.
This "association police" has been doing its best to manage many small island countries in the South Pacific for the United States. When the United States needs it, it even takes the risk of sending submarines to the coast of big countries for reconnaissance. In the end, it makes it impossible to get out of Taiwan.
Before the reform and opening up of and , the strength of the major countries in East Asia was very average. The United States did not pay attention to it, and Australia, as a "co-police", did not pay attention to it. After the reform and opening up of major countries, Australia's resources have found a good market, and their resources are very consistent with the needs of major countries.
Only big countries want this.
It can be said that the take-off of Australia's economy is accompanied by the economy of big countries. Happy Australians make a lot of money by selling some minerals and agricultural products at home.
Therefore, until Trump came to power, Australia maintained a very good relationship with major countries. In 2014, the relationship between the two countries was upgraded to a " comprehensive strategic partnership "; in 2015, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement came into effect.
Under this kind of good trade complementarity, Australia has received tangible benefits. The big country is their " largest trading partner. Australia can get a trade surplus of nearly 60 billion US dollars every year.
Everything was fine originally. Australia could follow the United States with peace of mind as its little brother, and could happily do business with the big country.But everything must be done with the permission of the United States, because Australia's media and secret services have been controlled by the United States.
The media is controlled, and there can only be one voice in the country, and that is the "voice of the United States." The secret services are controlled, and the United States not only becomes the United States' intelligence base in the Asia-Pacific, but also allows American agents to control the government.
There are countless American agents in Australia. This guy is the Minister of Defense
The American think tank provides advice to the Australian government. Australia's own security department is actually the nest of American spies. In this situation, anyone who wants to do something for their country cannot get power.
Since 2010, with the implementation of the United States' pivot to Asia policy, Australia's political arena has become chaotic, with prime ministers coming and going, and the media is full of "China threat" propaganda.
The big country can’t figure it out: I’m just going to buy you some iron ore, so why am I threatening you?
Many people in Australia also don’t understand: Great powers have never invaded others, let alone Australia, which is thousands of miles away?
Other countries don’t understand either: What does Australia want to do? Picture what?
In fact, there are many reasons why Australia has changed its policy so drastically, but the most important thing is that their government is deeply controlled by the United States.
Politicians cannot appear, and those who come to power are politicians who have been caught by the United States, such as Morrison and Dutton. The result is that if you don't say a few harsh words to a big country, you won't be able to gain a foothold in the political arena.
The US intelligence base in Australia
In fact, some people in the Australian government know that China's threat to Australia's security is pure nonsense. Therefore, when the US Secretary of State visited Australia in 2019, an Australian official expressed his opinion tactfully:
Australia's trade with major countries has brought irreplaceable income to Australia. The United States competes with major countries, and Australia cannot follow. Besides, "the United States will probably not be able to win against China."
But officials with these ideas had no decision-making power during the Morrison government's extreme visit to China at the time. After Pompeo ended his visit, Australia intensified its efforts to target major countries and stopped almost all cooperation, including 5G and the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the same time, they also cooperated with the United States to cause chaos in the Asia-Pacific and actively joined the "Ocus" four-nation alliance; they gave up the agreement with France and imported nuclear submarines from the United States. The purpose was obvious...
Diplomacy is reciprocal, and trade is mutual. If Australia does this, of course their goods can no longer be exported to big countries. Therefore, starting from 2019, a fantasy market has appeared that has stunned Australians:
Australian lobsters that occupy most of the market in big countries have been replaced by Maine lobsters; the largest market for Australian red wine has been filled in time by France and Italy; and the largest market for Australian beef has been occupied by American beef.
No one cares about their red wine.
These products have lost a market of more than one billion consumers. The results can be imagined. Australian businessmen can't figure it out: The United States doesn't let us do business with big countries, so why do all their own things go in?
4. Australia has turned, I hope they will stop "turning over the cakes".
In fact, the reality is cruel. After losing the market of a big country, Australia's business and trade almost all suffered losses. Fortunately, it had some foundation before, otherwise, the national economy would be miserable.
Australia is a resource country. Except for big countries, Europe and the Americas cannot get their resources. Only big countries want iron ore. Red wine cannot be sold in Europe, and beef from the Americas still wants to be sold to Australia.
The Russia-Ukraine war has begun, the United States has harvested its European allies, and the U.S. "Inflation Reduction Act" has undermined trade fairness. These are all real facts.
Australia is an ally of the United States. Australia is also a resource-rich country founded on trade. Australia cannot stand the scythe the United States reaps from its allies and the destruction of fair trade.
Keating is old and doesn’t care about anything.
Former Australian Prime Minister Keating couldn’t stand it anymore. He came out to accuse:
1. The United States has always been ungrateful to its allies; 2. Australia’s joining the "Ocus" agreement and purchasing nuclear submarines from the United States and the United Kingdom will do all harm but no good; 3. It is immoral for the Americans to cause trouble in the Strait, and the probability of winning is zero. Australia must not follow.
Why does Keating dare to tell the truth? He retired early, almost 30 years ago, and is not afraid of anything; he is already eighty years old and has nothing to do with the world, and he is not afraid of any evil tricks the United States may do to him.
Kevin Rudd, who is younger and more pragmatic towards China, would not dare to say that. In fact, he may be more disgusted with the policies at the time than Keating, but he does not dare because he is still young. This is the reality in Australia.
On May 23, 2022, Anthony Albanese was sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia. In order to restore relations between the two countries, Albanese changed the extreme policies of the Morrison government and began to deal with major powers pragmatically.
Albanese and Huang Yingxian
Albanese knows: Australia exports only ores, agricultural and fishery products, etc., with no technical content at all; it is Australia that cannot do without big countries, not that big countries cannot do without Australia.
There is no more Australian lobster . Now the markets of big countries are full of "Bolongs", and Australia has become a joke to American fishermen, European wine merchants and American beef merchants.
A few days ago, Australian Foreign Minister Huang Yingxian visited China, which was an important move to improve relations. I don’t know if Australia has listened to the advice of its foreign minister:
I hope Australia’s policies will not change like “turning over biscuits.”
The word "shaobing" is really difficult for foreigners to understand, but Huang Yingxian, who is of Chinese descent, must understand it.
