ABSTRACT
Aid is a fascinating and grossly under-discussed issue in Australia’s bilateral relations with China. It engages more Australians in more activities at more levels of government and society in more parts of China (including remote Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai), than any other activity of the Australian government, or any other Australian activity including, possibly, business.2 The total value of Australia’s bilateral aid to China and funding through other agencies in 2002-03 will be about $55.5 million, roughly the same as for the preceding two years and making China the fifth largest recipient of Australian aid.3 To give an idea of the scale of what this involves, in 2000-01 the Australian aid agency, AusAID, had almost 40 projects and literally hundreds of smaller activities spread across 17 different Chinese provinces.4 Translated into people that represents significant numbers and a huge amount of contact, communication, learning, experience, and challenge, almost a substantial relationship in its own right. It is a considerable asset in the bilateral relationship, although its value seems not to be widely appreciated and its strategic potential mostly ignored.
