Opinion | Never let Scott Morrison's wishes come true

By Edward Hei Leung, DAB Standing Committee Member

Infamous of his trouble-making role, Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister (PM), declared a strong level support from G7 nations to stand with Australia against China on 14 June 2021. He confirmed his delivery of the so-called 14-grievance list against Australia from a Chinese diplomat in Canberra last year. Yet, after his seemingly anti-China speech, Morrison insisted that Australia has no desire for a war with China and his governance is always welcome to open dialogues with Beijing. Does it look ironic?

Is Scott Morrison a trustworthy politician?

Let us trace back Scott Morrison's political road. He spent four years in North South Wales Liberal Party and entered federal politics since 2007. In Turnbull's rule, he became the Treasurer of Australia and paid a significant role by barring Huawei from Australia's 5G network and introducing new foreign interference laws against Beijing. Afterwards, Morrison took the PM's office from Turnbull, and become the leader of Liberal Party. Sino-Australia relations obviously got worse after he became the country's PM. Meanwhile, Morrison and his party found their so-called success formula in several election campaigns that includes escalating xenophobia, exaggerating China's threats and marking themselves strongest on economic management to safeguard national security etc.

Aside from blaming China, Morrison has committed at least two fatal mistakes, showing his arrogance and indifference with Australian citizenship. First, Morrison wrongly quoted One Country, Two Systems as Australian national policy during an interview in a local radio station called 3AW. Again, he kept lying, and denying his incorrect reference to the One-China policy under his governance, whereas his spokesman took the opposite views. Second, Morrison quietly went on a Hawaiian Holiday when the whole nation fought against terrible bushfires, with at least 28 people killed, thousands of homes destroyed. Even after the disclosure of his infamous holiday trip, Morrison insisted that he could receive regular updates of the disaster, the status of the search for and treatment of the victims. In light of this, is Scott Morrison a trustworthy politician?

Does Australia win in Morrison's rule?

Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, advised Morrison, to engage more calmly and directly with China, before he went to G7 meetings. As Lee said, "You don't have to become like them, neither can you hope to make them become like you. This is a big world in which there are different countries, and work with others who are not completely like-minded but with whom you have many issues, where your interests do align." Obviously, Morrison did not listen to what Lee advised.

Worse still, Morrison highlights himself as a guardian against China's threats, whereas ignoring the importance of China in Australian economy. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia, China is the largest two-way trading partner in goods and services, reaching AUD 251 billion in 2019-20. Besides, China is the sixth-largest foreign direct investor in Australia.

After the imposition of anti-dumping tariffs, Australia's AUD 1 billion wine export industry reported a 96% drop in exports in the first quarter of 2021. At the same time, Australia's barley trade got a devastating hit, since China was its largest consumer purchasing approximately 70% of the crop. Though Canberra seeks for a formal complaint to World Trade Organization, the resolution could take years. It cannot be denied that Australian wine and barley industry would face a dim future unless Morrison alters his China policy.

Be it desirable or not, Morrison successfully won his leading status within Liberal Party in the sacrifice of trade sectors like wine and barley.

To me, I totally agree with Beijing's strong stand against Morrison administration. Morrison, in fact, is not a trustworthy politician, not to mention his arrogance and indifference with Australian citizenship. Morrison also knows well on how China is important to Australian economy, but he chooses to manipulate people's xenophobia in order to continue his wins in election games. To deal with such a hypocritical western politician, the best way is "never let his wishes come true".

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.