U.S.-Led Infrastructure Aid to Counter China in Indo-Pacific

• Australia, Japan link with ally to fund ‘peace and prosperity’
• Pact enhances Trump’s evolving national security policies

By Jason Scott
Julie Bishop 

The U.S., Japan and Australia agreed to invest in infrastructure projects in the Indo-Pacific in a move seen as a counter to China’s rising influence in a region that stretches from the east coast of Africa, through Australia to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
“This trilateral partnership is in recognition that more support is needed to enhance peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday in an emailed statement. 

The pact will mobilize investment in energy, transportation, tourism and technology infrastructure, according to the statement, which didn’t give any funding details.
The announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy in December called for policies to answer rival powers’ infrastructure-building efforts. 

Chief among these is Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global plan to build or expand highways, railways, ports, pipelines and power plants that Morgan Stanley forecasts could grow as large as $1.3 trillion over the next decade.
U.S. infrastructure cooperation with Japan and Australia would dovetail with the Trump administration’s evolving national security policies, which have cast the U.S. as in “long-term, strategic competition” with China and Russia. 

Beijing’s BRI calls for half a trillion dollars in investment in infrastructure along trade routes to China, which is expected to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy before 2030.
Before visiting China in November, Trump signed two deals with Japan, pledging cooperation on infrastructure projects in the region.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, speaking Monday before a trip to Asia amid an escalating trade war with China, said the U.S. believes in “strategic partnerships, not strategic dependency” -- a veiled criticism of Beijing’s efforts to woo countries with cheap financing for infrastructure projects.
“With American companies, citizens around the world know that what you see is what you get: honest contracts, honest terms and no need for off-the-books nonsense,” Pompeo said. 

Another advantage of the U.S. is that “we will help them keep their people free from coercion or great power domination,” he said.
Pompeo is likely to make announcements about the pact’s funding arrangements during his visit to Asia, which will include Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, according to Stephen Kirchner, director of trade and investment program at the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
“This is designed to provide mechanism that will allow more private-sector funding for the infrastructure projects that countries in this region need,” Kirchner said. 

That will mean it will operate in different ways to established funds such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, he said.
In February, Bishop said the three nations, along with India, had discussed opportunities to address “the enormous need for infrastructure” in the region, which encompasses some of the world’s poorest as well as fastest-growing economies.
India wasn’t mentioned in Tuesday’s announcement. 

Instead, the pact will be organized by the U.S.’s Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“This partnership represents our commitment to an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open and prosperous,” the three nations said in a joint statement issued on Monday, according to Bishop. 

The trilateral partnership will be formalized “in due course,” Bishop said.

Strained Ties
Australia’s diplomatic relationship with China has been strained since December when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Chinese meddling in the nation’s government and media were a catalyst for new anti-foreign interference laws, which passed parliament last month.
China lodged a formal protest with Australia in January after Turnbull’s minister for international development, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, said the Belt and Road plan risked building “useless buildings” and “roads to nowhere.”
Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo denied the new pact was designed to counter China and said he wasn’t expecting a backlash from Beijing.
“Why would there be any?” Ciobo said in a Sky News interview on Tuesday. 

“The fact is that we demonstrate consistently that Australia is very focused on making sure we can help the least-developed economies in our region.”

Iron Lady

Julie Bishop raises objections to China's activities in South China Sea
By Katharine Murphy

Julie Bishop has raised objections to China’s militarisation of the South China Sea after weekend reports that a Chinese bomber capable of carrying a nuclear warhead had been on the disputed Paracel Islands.
With relations between Canberra and Beijing tense, courtesy of the Turnbull government’s pursuit of a crackdown against foreign interference, the Australian foreign minister has held a lengthy meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Argentina.
Bishop characterised the discussion as “very warm and candid and constructive” and said she would shortly visit the Chinese capital.
She said she had a good long-term relationship with her Chinese counterpart and told the ABC that Australia would “continue to approach our bilateral relationship with goodwill and realism and pragmatism and open communication”.
While the meeting in Argentina was obviously intended to achieve a diplomatic thaw, Bishop confirmed she had raised objections about China’s activities in the South China Sea, including the weekend incident.
The Chinese airforce said several bombers of various types – including the long-range, nuclear strike-capable H-6K – carried out landing and take-off drills at an unidentified island airfield after carrying out simulated strike training on targets at sea.
“Australia’s position has been very clear and consistent and it is very well known to China. Our concern about militarisation of disputed features of the South China Sea has been the subject of a number of discussions, and was again today,” Bishop said on Tuesday.
She said Australia had consistently raised concerns about activities in the disputed territory as part of “enduring, broad dialogue with China, and I don’t believe China was surprised by my raising it again today”.
Bishop also discussed the South China Sea with the US at the G20 meeting. 

She said Australia would continue to exercise its rights to freedom of navigation and overflight “and support the rights of others to do so” – and had conveyed that position to China.

China lands nuclear strike-capable bombers on South China Sea islands
The foreign minister has been criticised over her handling of the Australia-China relationship by a former Australian ambassador to Beijing, Geoff Raby, now a Chinese agent based in China.
Bishop has hit back at the critique from Raby, calling him ill-informed and “profoundly ignorant, might I say, about the level of engagement between Australia and China at present and the state of the relationship”.
In a translated press statement after the G20 talks, the Chinese foreign minister was less upbeat than Bishop. 

He acknowledged China-Australia relations had “encountered some difficulties”.
He also urged Australia to adopt a more positive disposition towards Beijing. 

“If Australia sincerely hopes that the relations between the two countries will return to the right track... they must break away from traditional thinking, take off their coloured glasses, and look at China’s development from a positive angle,” Wang said.

Chinese military outpost in Vanuatu a ‘massive nightmare’ for Australia, experts warn

China’s latest move in our region confirms the biggest fear Australian strategic thinkers have held since 1901

By Gavin Fernando

DEFENCE experts have warned that China’s latest flagged move in the South Pacific presents a “massive nightmare” for Australia.
Fears have mounted following reports Beijing is seeking to establish a permanent military base in Vanuatu, less than 2000km from the Australian border.
Initial talks have already begun with Vanuatu, which could see Beijing establishing a major military presence and upsetting the strategic balance of the region, Fairfax Media reported today.
Experts warn this will essentially see a Chinese military outpost planted directly in Australia’s backyard.
Adam Lockyer, a senior lecturer in Security Studies at Macquarie University, stressed that this is a huge deal for us.
“This is a big nightmare for Australia,” he told news.com.au. 

“A Chinese base here has been the primary fear of Australian strategic thinkers since Federation.”
So what’s China playing at?
Dr Lockyer said Australia had always been relatively safe as long as a great power — like China — didn’t have a base within proximity.
Since the end of World War II, we’ve fought to ensure no other power could interfere with us from the South Pacific region.
He explained that there’s a strategic military purpose to building a nearby base, in that you don’t need to defeat an entire army; you only need to defeat a small faction of the army that can be projected in one wave.
“As soon as you have that, Australia is vulnerable to military attacks and skyrockets,” he warned. 

“Canberra will be panicking if these reports are true. This is really going to shake the cage.”

Julie Bishop has downplayed the fears, saying she is confident of our relationship with Vanuatu.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop downplayed fears this morning, saying she was confident of Australia’s strong relationship with the island nation 1750km east of Northern Australia.
She also noted that China has only established one military base — in Djibouti in northern Africa.
“I’m not aware of a military offer being made by China to Vanuatu,” she told ABC radio today.
She also noted that Vanuatu’s high commissioner in Canberra, Kalfau Kaloris, said his country’s foreign ministry was “not aware” of China’s plan to build a permanent presence on the island.
“We have very good relationships with Vanuatu and I remain confident that Australia is Vanuatu’s strategic partner of choice.”

China is building military bases on the contested Spratly Islands.

Dr Lockyer also stressed this isn’t necessarily an active attack against Australia, and more a move to combat American influence in the region.
But it does send a clear message to us.
He suggested this may serve as a retaliation to Australia’s more aggressive stance on the rising superpower in recent times.
Chinese state media has attacked Mr Turnbull on several occasions for “standing up” against foreign interference in Australian politics, and for expressing concerns over China’s territorial aims in the South China Sea.
Just last month, Beijing accused Australia of becoming “an anti-China pioneer” over the past two years, accusing Mr Turnbull of “playing the China card”.
“The country’s unhealthy political environment prompts its politicians to play the China card,” the state-run Global Times editorial said. 

“Apparently, the above cannot be altered in the short run, and will exert long-term negative effects on Sino-Australian ties.”
According to Dr Lockyer, China’s response could be a reaction to that.
“Everyone knows this Melanesian region is vital to Australia. They (China) knew this would stir us up and make us feel very vulnerable, and if we felt vulnerable we might be less assertive,” he said.
“China’s media has been threatening us for a while now, and this is really hitting us where it hurts. It’s saying, ‘We know where you’re vulnerable, we know what you value, and we can hurt you there.’”
He also said China could be “holding up Australia as an example of a state that’s been naughty” to send a message to other countries in the region.
So what’s next?
It’s yet to be seen whether China will or plans to establish other bases in the region.
Dr Lockyer said Beijing acts opportunistically, rather than actively pursuing new military bases on a day-to-day basis.
“They’re setting up a network of close relationships around the world. If a door opens, then sure, they’ll take it,” he said.
But while Canberra does have some diplomatic and economic leverage, it may not be enough to contain Beijing if these “opportunities” continue to present themselves.

Chinese Aggressions

Australia to stress international law in South China Sea dispute
By Colin Packham

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop talks during a news conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto (not pictured) in Budapest, Hungary, February 22, 2018. 

SYDNEY -- Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will on Tuesday hail the role of international law in settling regional conflicts, comments apparently aimed at bolstering Australian efforts to build a coalition against Chinese assertiveness.
Bishop, in a speech ahead of a special meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sydney, will not name China but will argue that international law will stabilize a region strained by rival claims in the South China Sea.
“The rules-based order is designed to regulate behavior and rivalries of and between states, and ensure countries compete fairly and in a way that does not threaten others or destabilizes their region or the world,” Bishop will say in Sydney, according to a leaked draft of the speech seen by the Australian Financial Review.
“It places limitations on the extent to which countries use their economic or military power to impose unfair agreements on less powerful nations.”
China claims most of the South China Sea, an important trade route which is believed to contain large quantities of oil and natural gas, and has been building artificial islands on reefs, some with ports and air strips.
Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, all of which are members of ASEAN, also have claims in the sea.
Australia, a staunch U.S. ally with no claim to the South China Sea, has long maintained its neutrality on the dispute to protect economic relationship with China.
But with Australia’s relations with China souring in recent months, Bishop’s comment underscore a new Australian tactic.
“Australia is trying to get ASEAN on side with the notion that China is a rule-breaker that everyone would be better served by abiding by,” said Nick Bisley, professor of international relations at Melbourne’s La Trobe University.
“If it can get ASEAN to use that language, it will strengthen Australia’s position considerably.”
ASEAN and China in August begun talks to develop a code of conduct for the South China Sea, though a deal is unlikely before 2019, Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said in February.
The issue of the South China Sea is set to dominate the unofficial agenda of a special three-day meeting of ASEAN countries and Australia beginning on Friday.
Officially, the summit will focus on fostering closer economic ties among the 10 members ASEAN and Australia, and countering the threat of Islamist militants returning to the region from the Middle East.
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to travel to Sydney where she will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is under pressure to publicly condemn the deaths and expulsion of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine State over recent months.

Australia's Chinese Fifth Column

Julie Bishop steps up warning to Chinese students on Communist Party rhetoric
By Andrew Greene and Stephen Dziedzic

Ms Bishop said freedom of speech was crucial for all those living in or visiting Australia.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has issued a blunt warning to Chinese university students affiliated with the Communist Party, urging them to respect freedom of speech in Australia.
There are mounting anxieties about the way the Chinese Government uses student groups to monitor Chinese students in Australia, and to challenge academics whose views do not align with Beijing's.
Australia's security agencies are now pushing allies — including the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand — to hammer out a collective strategy to resist Chinese Government intrusions into Western universities.
Ms Bishop said Australia welcomed international students, but added that people came to study in Australia because of its "openness and freedom".
"This country prides itself on its values of openness and upholding freedom of speech, and if people want to come to Australia they are our laws," Ms Bishop said.
"That's who we are. And they should abide by it."
Earlier this year a Four Corners investigation revealed the extent of influence by the Chinese Communist Party on international students studying in Australia.
The issue came into sharp focus earlier this month, after the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson, warned Australian universities they need to be resilient to foreign interference.
The Foreign Minister backed Ms Adamson's comments, and said freedom of speech was crucial.
"We want to ensure that everyone has the advantage of expressing their views whether they are at university or whether they are visitors," Ms Bishop said.
"We don't want to see freedom of speech curbed in any way involving foreign students or foreign academics."
One of the most senior national security figures in Australia says there is now a "like mindedness and shared understanding" among Five Eyes allies of how China's influence has penetrated universities.
And Australia's intelligence and diplomatic organisations are increasingly concerned about the way the Chinese government uses student groups to push its agenda.
"Australia is giving China what it wants in terms of education for its students — so it's time for the Federal Government to insist the Chinese comply with Australia's values and interests," one senior foreign diplomatic figure told the ABC.

Chinese aggressions

Australia joins with US, Japan to rebuke China
By PRIMROSE RIORDAN
Julie Bishop has joined the Foreign Ministers of the US and Japan in singling out China and the Philippines over South China Sea maritime disputes.

Australia has joined the United States and Japan in issuing a rebuke to China over the South China Sea at a meeting directly after ASEAN took a softer stance on the issue.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been in the Philippines over the past few days for the East Asia Summit and ASEAN-Australia ministerial meetings.
At the meeting ASEAN countries announced they had come to a consensus on a framework for the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, which despite lobbying by Vietnam, did not include a reference to whether it would be legally binding.
Despite the Philippines initiating international legal proceeding against China over the South China Sea in the first place, the county’s incumbent administration has downplayed the dispute at times in order to have stronger economic relations with the superpower.
After the ASEAN meetings, Ms Bishop met with US Secretary of State and Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno for the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue.
The three ministers issued a long statement which singled out China and the Philippines and expressed “serious concern” over South China Sea maritime disputes.
“The Ministers called on China and the Philippines to abide by the Arbitral Tribunal’s 2016 Award in the Philippines-China arbitration, as it is final and legally binding on both parties,” the statement read.
The ministers backed in Vietnam and said the code of conduct should be legally binding, a principle Ms Bishop has previously pushed for.
“The Ministers further urged ASEAN member states and China to ensure that the COC be finalised in a timely manner, and that it be legally binding, meaningful, effective, and consistent with international law.”
Ms Bishop, Mr Tillerson and Mr Kono said they strongly opposed island building in the South China Sea.
“The Ministers voiced their strong opposition to coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions.”
“In this regard, the Ministers urged SCS claimants to refrain from land reclamation, construction of outposts, militarisation of disputed features, and undertaking unilateral actions that cause permanent physical change to the marine environment in areas pending delimitation.”
The statement addressed the North Korean missile tensions and terrorism.
The ministers said nations should “make further efforts” to change Pyongyang’s behaviour.
“The Ministers called on the international community to implement strictly UNSC resolutions and impose additional diplomatic and economic measures to address the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) threat posed by the North Korean regime and its destabilising behaviour, and to make further efforts to urge North Korea to abandon its current threatening and provocative path and immediately take steps to denuclearise.”
The Turnbull government has repeatedly urged China to place pressure on its rogue neighbour and ally to turn away from its nuclear weapons program.
The UN Security Council, which includes China, voted unanimously over the weekend for new sanctions on Pyongyang after a number of long-range missile launches this year.
The sanctions include a partial ban on exports, new asset freezes and travel bans, as well as measures which target North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank.
Australia supported the move and said they would add additional individuals and seven entities to the county’s blacklist.
“In support of international efforts on North Korea, Australia will also apply targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on several additional individuals and seven entities under Australia’s autonomous sanctions regime,” Mr Turnbull and Ms Bishop said in a statement.
Ms Bishop also met with Rodrigo Duterte to discuss the three month old crisis in the country where Islamic State-inspired extremists captured the southern city of Marawi.
In June Australia announced it would send two AP-3C Orion aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force to help the Armed Forces of the Philippines spy on the militants.
“I met Filipino President Duterte to discuss the ongoing situation in Marawi,” she said in a statement to The Australian.

Something is rotten in the state of Australia

Sam Dastyari trashed Labor policy on South China Sea for $400k donation

• Sam Dastyari told Chinese media Australia should not meddle in China's activities in South China Sea
• Julie Bishop attacked Bill Shorten for promoting Dastyari to deputy Opposition whip
• Coalition also faces questions about Chinese donations

By Louise Yaxley

Sam Dastyari resigned from the frontbench because a Chinese donor paid a travel bill for him.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has accused Labor senator Sam Dastyari of trashing the ALP's foreign policy for a $400,000 donation.
Four Corners has reported that Chinese donor Huang Xiangmo withdrew a promise to donate $400,000 last year because Labor's then-defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, supported freedom of movement in the South China Sea.
The program pointed out that the day after the offer was withdrawn, Dastyari contradicted Labor policy by telling Chinese media that Australia should not meddle with China's activities in the South China Sea.
Dastyari later said he supported Labor Party policy on freedom of movement in the South China Sea.
He resigned from his frontbench position last year because a Chinese donor paid a travel bill for him.

Ms Bishop has lashed out at Dastyari and attacked Labor leader Bill Shorten for giving the senator a promotion to deputy Opposition whip.
"We now know that Dastyari's about-face on the South China Sea had a price tag attached to it — indeed a reported $400,000 was all it took for Dastyari to trash Labor's official foreign policy position," Ms Bishop said.
"What did the Leader of the Opposition do?
"In the face of the most extraordinary public admission of foreign interference and influence, he slapped him on the wrist, sent him to the backbench for a couple of months and Sam Dastyari is now back in a leadership position in the Labor Party.
"This Leader of the Opposition sold out our national interest."
The Coalition also faces questions about Chinese donations.

Greens leader Richard di Natale raised a Four Corners report that Huang Xiangmo also donated $100,000 to then-trade minister Andrew Robb's personal campaign fund on the day the free trade deal was signed with China.

Chinese fifth column's Gang of Four -- An ASIO investigation sparks fears the Chinese Communist Party is influencing the Australian political system as questions are raised over foreign political donations. 

Attorney-General George Brandis refused to say whether a conflict of interest was raised in Cabinet, saying he could not reveal Cabinet discussions.
Senator Brandis said he was aware of the reports and allegations but did not know if they are accurate.
Andrew Robb now works for the Chinese-owned company the Landbridge Group, which has a 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin.
He began working for Landbridge the day before the election last July, but Senator Brandis said Robb had left Parliament when the election was called in May.
Senator di Natale said it was critical for the Greens to shine a spotlight on the issue because both major parties had connections to Chinese donors.

"You have got Labor and Liberal members of this Parliament implicated for their links to high-profile Chinese businessmen connected to the Communist regime in China," he said.

Australia's New Masters

China Bullied Australia Into Ejecting Taiwan: Next Time Show China The Door
By Anders Corr

On May 1, according to participants at a diplomatic event in Australia, Chinese representatives acted rudely until the Australian host, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, acquiesced to China’s demand and ejected the Taiwan representatives. 

The Chinese participants took the microphone and shouted down the Chair of the meeting, forcing a suspension of at least two proceedings, including the introduction of Ms. Bishop and an indigenous welcoming ceremony.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 21: (L-R) Australian Attorney General George Brandis, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Central Commission on Political and Legal Affairs, Secretary Meng Jianzhu and Secretary-General of the Central Commission on Political and Legal Affairs Wang Yongqing pose at the inaugural Australia-China High-level Security Dialogue at Shangri-La Hotel on April 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. It is the first time representatives from the two countries have met for high-level security talks. 

“It was disgusting,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a high-level Australian attendee as saying. “It was extraordinary, so uncalled for and so inappropriate, and so disrespectful." 

Another session with mining executives was abandoned because of African-country disruptions in support of the Chinese position. 

China, which funds African development and purchases extensive raw materials from the continent, has a lot of economic influence there that it uses for diplomatic support at places like the U.N. and elsewhere. 

The same applies to Australia. 

China is Australia’s biggest export market, accounting for 27.5% of all goods and services exported ($85.9 billion AUD in 2015-2016). 

By comparison, Australia’s exports to Taiwan during the same period were only $6.5 billion AUD.
The annual meeting was on the diamond trade, and the shouting started at a welcome ceremony of traditional music for Australia’s Foreign Minister. 

Participants described the Chinese actions as “disgusting” and “extraordinary”. 

They resulted, after stalling the meeting with backroom discussions between China and Australia, in the hosts ejecting the Taiwan delegation. 

Since 2007, democratic Taiwan has taken part as an observer in these meetings, meant to decrease trade in conflict diamonds.
Note that the meeting included mining executives, and their portion of the meeting was canceled when China and its African allies caused the second ruckus. 

These mining executives are hoping to sell coal and other minerals to China at favorable prices, and they were likely seeking the Australian foreign minister's assistance, including at this meeting. 

Ms. Bishop’s priority at the meeting appears to have been exports rather than conflict diamonds and other human rights issues. 

Perhaps Australia’s mining companies will reward her with a position as CEO or on the board of directors when she leaves office. 

Watch for it. 

Voters should not reward her with future positions in government.
It is a crass caving to China’s economic power, rather than standing for principle, that causes diplomats to subjugate themselves to China’s authoritarian demands while not only looking the other way, but participating in China’s rudeness to a fellow democratic country. 

China thereby erodes democratic freedoms and principles, through divide and conquer tactics, both at home and abroad. 

By participating in this subversion of democracy, we are culpable and responsible for the destruction of principles upon which our democracies are founded.
Next time this happens, Australian voters who care about democracy and human rights should insist that China, not Taiwan, be shown the door. 

According to officials I have heard from, this has happened in the past when they refuse to bow to China on Taiwan’s participation. 

As a result, China leaves the meeting. 

Good riddance. 

In fact, China and its disruptive friends should not be invited to the next meeting.
Why are we compromising our democratic principles in the first place? 

For exports, trade and investment deals? 

Mining of coal and other minerals that lead to global warming? 

We need to get our priorities straight before China leads the world with its heavy hand toward ever-worsening autocracy, human rights abuse and global warming. 

Through inaction, this generation can cause enough slippage to ruin things for the next generation. 

We need to get smarter faster.

Australia's New Masters

Disgusting scenes as Chinese delegation shouts down welcome ceremony
By Kelsey Munro

Participants at an intergovernmental meeting hosted by Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop in Perth have described "disgusting" and "extraordinary" scenes as the Chinese government delegation shouted over the welcome to country ceremony and forced the suspension of proceedings.
A Taiwanese delegation was later ejected from the Kimberley Process meeting at the behest of the Chinese delegates who objected to their attendance.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it had raised concerns over the incident with the Chinese ambassador.
Participants at the Kimberley Process intersessional meeting have described extraordinary scenes as the Chinese delegation noisily disrupted the official Indigenous welcome ceremony and forced the suspension of at least one other session on Monday.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks at the opening of the Kimberley Process in Perth on Monday. 

Members from the delegation used the microphone at their table to speak over the chairman of the meeting, senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade official Robert Owen-Jones, as he tried to introduce the foreign minister Julie Bishop and the Indigenous welcome ceremony, attendees said.
The Chinese delegation said they had a point of order and demanded to know if everyone in the room had been "formally invited".
The interruptions continued until the agenda was changed to address the so-called "point of order" as the first item. 

Only then was the welcome to country permitted to go ahead, followed by Ms Bishop's speech.
"It was disgusting," said one high-level Australian attendee who asked that their name not be used. 

"It was extraordinary, so uncalled for and so inappropriate, and so disrespectful."
Attorney-General George Brandis, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Chinese Central Commission on Political and Legal Affairs, Secretary Meng Jianzhu.

Fairfax Media understands that another session later in the morning involving a panel discussion with executives from mining companies was abandoned altogether because of continual interruptions by various African delegations in support of the Chinese position.
Backroom negotiations between the Chinese and the Australian parties ensued, then the Taiwanese delegation was asked to leave. 

The conference program resumed.
The Kimberley Process is an international meeting first convened in 2000 aimed at stopping the trade in conflict diamonds and to prevent the diamond trade from funding violence by insurgent movements.
Taiwan was granted observer status in 2007.
This is the first time Australia has chaired the four-day intersessional meeting.
A spokeswoman for DFAT said Australia had invited the Rough Diamond Trading Entity of Taiwan to attend the Kimberley Process in Perth as a guest of the Chair, "in line with earlier precedent". 

"The chair had to withdraw the invitation to the Taiwanese following objections from China and several other delegations to the former's presence during the opening session, in order to enable the meeting to continue.
"Continual disruption to the proceedings in the opening session was regrettable and the Australian government's concerns with respect to the behaviour of Chinese delegates have been raised with the Chinese ambassador."
Because China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that will eventually return to the motherland, Taiwanese attendance at international forums has become a proxy battleground over Taiwan's nation status.
Official Taiwanese presence at international forums is usually restricted to observer status as "Chinese Taipei" or, as the 18th largest economy in the world by GDP, Taiwan is sometimes invited as an "economy" rather than a nation.

Rogue Nation

The Saga of a Sydney Academic Stuck in China Spotlights the Limits of Beijing’s Soft Power
By Charlie Campbell / Beijing

Feng Chongyi
Last week, Li Keqiang visited Australia. 

There he announced plans for joint mine, rail and port projects and removed the last restrictions on imports of Australian beef to China, an industry already worth $300 million annually to local ranchers. 

“It is time for China and Australia to enter into an era of free trade across the board, which means that we need to have free trade between our two countries in wider areas,” Li told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra.
Li’s visit was the latest salvo in a concerted Chinese charm offensive in Australia, one that has taken on new impetus since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. 

In one of his first acts, Trump nixed U.S. involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade bloc, which the Australian government had lauded as bringing “tremendous” benefits for local exporters. 

When Trump spoke with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Jan. 28, the U.S. President said it was “the worst call by far” he’d made. 

The two leaders clashed over an agreement forged by the Obama Administration to accept 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center, which Trump deemed “the worst deal ever.”
The spat threatened to derail a strategic alliance that stretches back decades — including American-led wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan — and push Canberra closer to Beijing. 

Already, China is Australia’s largest trading partner — two-way trade was $115 billion in 2014. Chinese students flock en masse to Australian universities, while Chinese consumers supped $400 million of Australian wine last year.
Still, fears of an Australian defection to China’s corner are misplaced for now, as illustrated by an incident that unfolded 4,600 miles away just hours after Li addressed reporters in Canberra. 

Feng Chongyi, a China-studies academic at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), was halted at Guangzhou International Airport attempting to board a flight back to Australia. 

He remains in Guangzhou in a "special situation," his lawyer Liu Hao tells TIME. 

No reason for the travel ban has been given.
Feng, who was born in China, is an Australian permanent resident though not a citizen, and reportedly entered China on a Chinese passport. 

Yet he was far from a dissident: he worked for UTS’s Australia-China Relations Institute, headed by former Foreign Minister Bob Carr, which has a reputation for unashamedly propagating a positive spin on the Australia-China relationship. 

Critics have even branded it the local “propaganda arm” of the Chinese Communist Party.
Feng's quasi detention stirred enough public alarm to prompt the shelving on Tuesday of a joint extradition treaty that had been on the books for 10 years and was finally due to be ratified by the Australian parliament. 

Most embarrassingly, the nixing came just hours after Li departed following his five-day visit. 

The incident stood to demonstrate that however closely entwined the two nations become economically, China’s poor human-rights record and repressive legal system will bridle how deep any alliance could ever be.
“Since the Trump election, China has gone on a bit of a charm offensive with Australia,” says Professor Nick Bisley, an Asia expert at Australia’s La Trobe University. 

“But it's far too early days to mark Australia out as a country that’s turning or even ripe for the turning.”
Australia’s wariness is partly prompted by China’s ham-fisted attempts of gaining domestic political leverage. 

In 2013, Chinese hackers stole the blueprints for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) new $480 million headquarters. 

The building remained empty until very recently. 

In October, Labor Party Senator Sam Dastyari was forced to resign from the shadow cabinet after it emerged that a Chinese government-linked company had paid a private travel bill. 

The 33-year-old is known for being sympathetic to Beijing’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Dastyari case prompted Australian intelligence services to map the flow of Chinese money and businessmen into Australia, augmenting demands for an end to foreign donations to political parties. There are also calls to ban Confucius Institutes from Australian universities. 

The Chinese government-funded cultural-promotion bodies have been accused of espionage and brazenly advancing Beijing’s political agenda.
“The China soft-power thing is taken very seriously by Australian security agencies,” says Carlyle Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy. 

“And the realists in defense are very concerned about the South China Sea.”
The ideological gulf is good news for Washington. 

Speaking in Singapore earlier this month, Australian Minister Julie Bishop said that the "United States must play an even greater role as the indispensable strategic power in the Indo-Pacific ... While nondemocracies such as China can thrive when participating in the present system an essential pillar of our preferred order is democratic community." 

Still, deep economic ties between Australia and the U.S aggrandize the bedrock of shared values. Although China ranks top in Australia for trade, American investment dwarfs all competitors, standing at $660 billion in 2015. 

Unease at China’s underhand tactics is partly responsible. 

In April, the Australian government blocked the $283 million sale of the Kidman beef ranch — the world’s largest, roughly the size of Ireland — to Chinese investors as it was deemed "contrary to the national interest." 

The same reason was given for preventing a Chinese firm from buying a controlling stake in Australia’s largest electricity network in August.
“It’s hard to overstate how strong and deeply rooted the [U.S.-Australia] relationship is on both sides of the Pacific,” says Bisley. 

With China, he adds, “it’s a high-value but not a deep relationship.”

Australia rejects China push on Silk Road strategy

Canberra fears tying infrastructure fund to Beijing’s plans would hit US relations 
By Jamie Smyth in Sydney

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reviews a military honour guard with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing last year.
Australia has rejected a Chinese push for a formal alignment of Canberra’s A$5bn state infrastructure fund with Beijing’s New Silk Road strategy, over concerns it could damage relations with the US at a time when it is asking Washington to do more in the region.
The Chinese initiative, also known as One Belt One Road, envisages investing $4tn in port, road and rail projects overseas — and Beijing has been pressing Asia-Pacific economies to sign up to its vision.
But Canberra has confirmed there will be no agreement over Australia’s Northern Development Infrastructure Facility during a trip to Australia this week by Li Keqiang.
“No formal memorandum on this issue will be signed during the visit,” said one Australian official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Li’s trip comes at a tricky time in Sino-Australian relations.
Canberra is pressing Washington to bolster its presence in the region and taking a tougher line on inward investment from China, recently blocking two high-profile takeovers.
Last week Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, called on the administration of Donald Trump to expand the US role in Asia to ensure stability and peace.
“While non-democracies such as China can thrive when participating in the present system, an essential pillar of our preferred order is democratic community,” she said in a speech in Singapore.
The debate over whether Australia should align its state infrastructure fund with One Belt One Road bears similarities to Canberra’s hesitation over joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
In 2014 Australia initially decided not to join the Chinese-led multilateral lender following lobbying by the US and Japan.
But when the UK and several other western nations broke ranks and signed up to the AIIB, Canberra joined them.
“There is a view in the defence/security community in Canberra that initiatives like the AIIB and One Belt One Road are a way to extend Chinese influence at the expense of the US,” said Geoff Raby, a former Australian ambassador to China, who runs a consultancy advising Chinese and Australian businesses.

Li Keqiang’s Australian agenda 
● Beijing is pressing Canberra to ratify an extradition treaty that would enable it to target corrupt officials that have fled to Australia following Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption at home. 
● Canberra is likely to raise the cases of 14 employees of Crown Resorts — the gaming company controlled by Australian billionaire James Packer — who remain in detention in China following their arrest in October. 
● Both countries are working to tackle technical issues that have hampered the free flow of goods between the two. Australian beef producers are seeking greater access to the Chinese market. 

Mr Raby said Australia-China relations had “gone adrift”, with Canberra increasingly taking an idealist approach to relations focused on values, rather than a more greedy approach aimed at boosting economic ties with its largest trading partner.
Australian companies have expressed an interest in getting involved in the New Silk Road plan and business leaders in the country have set up a One Belt One Road advisory group to facilitate this. Government officials in the Northern Territory have also sought to align the region with China’s plans, describing official Chinese overtures first made by Xi Jinping on a visit to Australia in 2014 as a great opportunity for Darwin as a hub servicing the New Silk Road.
But Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, where it has laid claim to a vital trade route and lucrative fisheries area, has made Australia wary of its regional ambitions.
Canberra recently tightened scrutiny of foreign takeovers following the purchase of Darwin port by the Chinese company Landbridge — a transaction that alarmed Washington because of the nearby presence of a US army base.
Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at Australian National University, said Australia did not want to be left out of the Asian infrastructure network promised by One Belt One Road but nor did it want to be seen to be jumping on Beijing’s bandwagon too enthusiastically.
“Like everything else in Asia these days, OBOR has become a political and strategic symbol in the great contest between Washington and Beijing for regional leadership,” he said.
Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Remin University in Beijing, said port investments were by far the most sensitive direct investment by China in Australia.
“Obviously, there is a security concern over the ports,” he said.
“And on the Maritime Silk Road project, Australia has been hesitant because of a fundamental disagreement over the South China Sea.”

Chinese Aggressions

Julie Bishop backs Japanese right to sail through troubled South China Sea
By David Wroe and Kirsty Needham

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has backed "the right of all nations" to sail through international waters after Japan decided to send its biggest naval warship through the South China Sea.
The move by Japan to send its Izumo helicopter carrier through the waters where Beijing has been expanding strategic control signals clear fears even among close US allies about Donald Trump's commitment to Asia, leading Australian experts said.
Ms Bishop, when asked for her views on the reports of Japan's planned naval transit, said: "The Australian government supports the right of all nations and their vessels to traverse international waters according to international law."

Overnight, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had seen the media reports about Japan's actions, but hadn't heard Japan's official explanation.

Strategic scholars meanwhile said the Trump administration needed to do more than make vague, reassuring statements if it is to calm nervous Asian nations -- including Australia -- who worry the US might withdraw from the region.

The Japanese warship Izumo will tour the South China Sea for three months.

US acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton said on Monday night that the Trump administration would ditch the Obama-era US language of a "pivot" or "rebalance", which described a long-term plan to focus more military, diplomatic and economic attention on the Asia-Pacific region.
Ben Schreer, the head of Macquarie University's Department of Security Studies and Criminology, said Japan's decision to send the 248-metre long Izumo through the South China Sea reflected Tokyo's wish to signal to Washington that it would do more militarily in Asia.
This in turn was aimed at encouraging the US to stay involved, underscoring the nervousness among Washington's allies in Asia, including Australia, that the superpower would pull back.
"[The Izumo] is their most powerful warship so it sends a message and it sits within Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policy of signalling to the Americans that Japan is within limits willing to do more … and getting American reassurance in return," Professor Schreer said.
Ms Bishop in a speech in Singapore on Monday said that many countries in Asia were in a "strategic holding pattern" as they waited to see whether the US would remain committed to the region. 

She called on the Trump administration to "play an even greater role as the indispensable strategic power in the Indo-Pacific".
Euan Graham of the Lowy Institute said the Japanese move was "a bold move" but how bold would depend on whether it sailed with US naval ships nearby or within disputed waters.
That would be "a significant up-tempo shift – one that would inevitably raise expectations of Australia", he said.
Andrew Shearer, a former adviser on national security to Tony Abbott and John Howard, now with the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Japan was taking another step in a stronger security posture under Mr Abe, which came on top of a decision to conduct exercises with the US in the South China Sea.
"To me, this underlines Japan's commitment to upholding freedom of navigation, its growing concern about tensions in the South China Sea -- an international waterway that is vital to its economy as well as Australia's - and the extent to which other countries in the region are anxious about China's growing assertiveness".

Dr Graham and Professor Schreer said it was striking that Ms Bishop had so pointedly highlighted the wait-and-see attitude in Asia about Mr Trump's commitment to Asia.
Ms Thornton's remarks about the pivot or rebalance being "a bumper sticker" that was used to describe "the Asia policy in the last administration" might be damaging because there was nothing so far to replace it, they said.
"Until the US does more to fill the policy void … scepticism is inevitable about how far the inner core around President Trump are willing to buy into those as US interests," Dr Graham said.
Professor Schreer said: "If it's not the rebalance or the pivot, what is it? What remains of the engagement?"
Ms Bishop said of Ms Thornton's remarks that she was "encouraged during my recent meetings with the United States Administration, including with Vice-President Pence, Secretary of State Tillerson and National Security Adviser General McMaster that the US intends to remain engaged in the Asia Pacific region".

Political Lesson to Big Brother

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop delivers warning to China on need to embrace democracy
By Andrew Greene

Julie Bishop is in Singapore to promote Australia's relationships with key partners in Southeast Asia.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned China it can only reach its full economic potential if it further embraces democracy.
Speaking in Singapore on Monday night Ms Bishop strongly defended democratic institutions and regional norms, while reaffirming the Australian Government's view that the "United States must play an even greater role as the indispensable strategic power in the Indo-Pacific".
"It is the pre-eminent global strategic power in Asia and the world by some margin," Ms Bishop told the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
"It is a country which does not have territorial disputes with other countries in the region."
Ms Bishop, who recently met with US Vice-President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor HR McMaster, argued that the region was in a "strategic holding pattern and waiting to see whether the US and its security allies and partners can continue to play the robust and constructive role they have for many decades in preserving the peace".
In an address titled 'Change and Uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific' the Foreign Minister urged ASEAN members to champion democratic norms and institutions in the region.
During her Fullerton lecture Ms Bishop also sent an unusually blunt message to Beijing about the importance of democratic institutions.
"While it is appropriate for different states to discover their own pathway leading toward political reform, history shows that embrace of liberal democratic institutions is the most successful foundation for nations seeking economic prosperity and social stability," Ms Bishop said.
"While non-democracies such as China can thrive when participating in the present system, an essential pillar of our preferred order is democratic community."
"Domestic democratic habits of negotiating and compromise are essential to powerful countries resolving their disagreements according to international law and rules."
The Foreign Minister's comments come just days before Li Kequiang is scheduled to visit Australia.