China slams ‘irresponsible’ language in Australian foreign policy paper

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China has slammed Australia over the language used in its foreign policy white paper that is explicitly critical and fearful of Beijing’s rise as the dominant power in Asia-Pacific amid waning US influence.

The Australian government late on Thursday released the white paper – the first to be issued in 13 years – to outline its national interests and long-term agenda in what it referred to as the "Indo-Pacific" region amid "changing power balances".

The 138-page policy paper called for continued US leadership role in the region clearly reflecting Australia’s anxiety over China’s growing stature despite Beijing’s emergence as Canberra’s largest trading partner in recent years.

From left: Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steve Ciobo and Secretary of DFAT Frances Adamson arrive for the official launch of the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Canberra, Australia, on November 23, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

"The United States has been the dominant power in our region throughout Australia's post-Second World War history. Today, China is challenging America's position," the document said. "Navigating the decade ahead will be hard because, as China's power grows, our region is changing in ways without precedent in Australia's modern history."

On a consoling note, the policy paper asserted that Australia was "committed to strong and constructive ties with China.”

China expressed "grave concerns" over the language used in the white paper. “We have noted that the white paper issued by the Australian government has given an overall positive evaluation of China's development and China-Australia relations but made irresponsible remarks on the South China Sea issue. We are gravely concerned about this," Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman Lu Kang said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

'Rule-based order can't be defined unilaterally'

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop during the official launch of the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Canberra, on November 23, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Describing the white paper as "clear-eyed and hard-headed", Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull acknowledged the palpable nervousness in Canberra as the regional power balance shifts. "This is the first time in our history that our dominant trading partner is not also a dominant security partner," he said about China.

"In the past we could safely assume that the world worked in a way that suited Australia," Turnbull said, following the launch of the policy document in Canberra. "Now power is shifting and the rules and institutions are under challenge," he said. "We are experiencing unprecedented prosperity and opportunity but the liberal, rules-based order that underpins it all is under greater stress than at any time since its creation in the 1940s."

The white paper advocated that the US presence in the region is necessary for, what it called a "rules-based order."

"We believe that the United States' engagement to support a rules-based order is in its own interests and in the interests of wider international stability and prosperity," the document said. "Without sustained US support, the effectiveness and liberal character of the rules-based order will decline."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a sharp retort to the implicit notion being pushed in the Australian policy paper, which suggested somehow that Beijing is averse to the concept of "rules-based order".

"As to what you mentioned with regard to whether China follows the 'rules-based order' in place since World War II, I would like to remind them that the post-WWII rules and order as we speak should be those ones generally acknowledged by the international community rather than defined unilaterally by any certain country," spokesperson Lu Kang told reporters when asked to comment on the issue.

"On China's part, what we have always observed are the rules based on the purpose and principle of the UN Charter, not those ones unilaterally defined by any country," he stressed.

'Australia has no business in South China Sea'

A Chinese Coast Guard vessel (right) passes near the Chinese oil rig, Haiyang Shi You 981 (left) in the South China Sea, on June 13, 2014. /Reuters Photo

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also criticized the white paper’s passages on the issues related to the South China Sea, which stated that Australia is "particularly concerned by the unprecedented pace and scale of China's activities [in the sea]" and that Canberra "opposes the use of disputed features and artificial structures in the South China Sea for military purposes."

"Elsewhere in the region, Australia is concerned about the potential for the use of force or coercion in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait," the white paper added.

Dubbing the Australian position as "irresponsible", Lu Kang said: "Australia is not a party of the South China Sea issue, and has kept saying it takes no stance on the relevant territorial sovereignty disputes. We urge the Australian side to honor its commitment and stop irresponsible remarks on the South China Sea issue."

The foreign ministry spokesperson assured that the "the situation in the South China Sea has been stabilized and eased."

"In particular, the littoral countries of the South China Sea, namely China and the ASEAN countries, have reached consensus on the 'dual-track' approach, that is to say, the parties directly concerned peacefully resolve the dispute through dialogue and negotiation, and China and the ASEAN countries join efforts to uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea. Now regional countries are moving in this direction and we hope non-regional countries can respect such efforts," he asserted.

What is the 'Indo-Pacific' strategy?

US President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, on November 6, 2017. Both the leaders are the strongest proponents of the "Indo-Asian" quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, India and Australia. /Reuters Photo

The Australian white paper also highlighted the challenges that will rise with China’s growing influence in the region, which is increasingly being described as the "Indo-Pacific", rather than the more conventional Asia-Pacific, in the world of strategic diplomacy.

"Like all great powers, China will seek to influence the region to suit its own interests," the white paper said. "As it does, a number of factors suggest we will face an increasingly complex and contested Indo–Pacific. Compounding divergent strategic interests as China’s power grows, tensions could also flare between them over trade and other economic issues."

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about the importance of promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region, a term that he frequently used during his 12-day, five-nation Asia visit earlier this month.

It was a departure from the language employed by previous US administrations and led to speculation that it could have to do with Washington laying the groundwork for a revival of the so-called quadrilateral strategic alliance consisting of the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China’s rise.

Earlier this June, the term had found mention in the joint statement issued by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump after the former's visit to the White House.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been another proponent of the idea of the Indo-Pacific strategic alliance. During the Japanese leader's visit to India this September, both Abe and Modi called for a free and open Indo-Pacific strategy.

With the Australian white paper making several references, Indo-Pacific appears to have entered the official foreign policy lexicons in Washington, Tokyo, New Delhi and Canberra.

The four nations had not formally convened as a strategic group for a decade but signaling a widening of their security cooperation under the likely quadrilateral coalition, top officials from the US, Japan, India and Australia on November 12 held extensive talks focusing on the Indo-Pacific region, in Manila, ahead of the ASEAN and East Asia summits.

Chin has cautioned that the alliance should not target a "third party". "We keep saying that China is glad to see relevant countries develop friendly and cooperative relations, but we hope that such relations would not target a third party and should contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said earlier this month.

Zhang Zhixin, head of American Political Studies at the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, speaking earlier to China Daily, hoped that Australia, which enjoys decent economic ties with China, may be less keen to push forward the new grouping.

"The quadrilateral ‘alliance’, which the United States, India, Japan and Australia plan to build to strengthen their ‘Indo-Pacific ties’, however, would not affect the economic interdependence of Asian economies nor would it serve the purpose of containing China, if there is one," Zhang said.

"In fact, with more countries joining the Beijing-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, it seems an unwise move to miss the reciprocal nature of President Xi Jinping's vision and exclude China from regional economic governance," Zhang reasoned.

(With input from agencies)

Top photo - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang's regular press conference in Beijing on November 23, 2017. /Photo via Chinese Foreign Ministry