ABSTRACT
On 26 May 1995, ABC Radio in Australia revealed in its news report that fibre-optic listening devices had been installed in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra by the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) since the time of the embassy's construction in the late 1980s. Information picked up by the installed equipment was transmitted directly to Washington through a relay station in the British High Commission, which was located near the Chinese Embassy compound. As China is regarded as a great power and Australia as a small or middle power in international relations, it is a real test of independence in foreign policy-making to demonstrate that Australian policy towards China has indeed been formulated and implemented as a result of conscious efforts to safeguard Australia's own security and well-being. Finally, virtually all the existing English-language literature on Australian foreign policy, including Sino-Australian relations, has been authored by Australian or other non-Chinese scholars.
