ABSTRACT
The steady development of Australia's China policy from the beginning of the Hawke government in March 1983 ended in mid-1989 when dramatic events in China put a sudden brake on Sino-Australian relations. The Hawke government's China policy demonstrated both continuity with and change from that of previous administrations. Indeed, the dominance of economic objectives in Australia's overall foreign policy during the Hawke era is so widely recognized that one of the most authoritative collections documenting the Hawke government's foreign policy is entitled Diplomacy in the Marketplace'. The Hawke government's China policy has been the subject of intense public debate since the end of turmoil in China in 1989. The greater freedom of action demonstrated by Hawke was not merely a personal triumph, but reflected the increasing independence of the Australian government in pursuing its China policy according to its own definition of Australia's national interests.
