Australia: between an ally and a ‘true friend’

Writing in 2007 the Chinese scholar Zhai Kun observed of Australia that ‘[it] recognizes China’s status as a market economy, is open to bilateral free-trade talks, refuses to join the United States and Japan in their lobbying the European Union [to maintain] . . . an arms embargo against China, and is opposed to “Taiwan independence”’. Dubbing Australia a ‘sub-geopolitical center in Asia Pacific’ the scholar noted the centrality of Australian ties to the United States, but optimistically envisaged a cooperative Sino-Australian partnership emerging based on mutual interests that might serve to balance other players in the region (Zhai 2007).