Australia in the World

Ep. 6: Mike Pence’s Hudson Institute speech and the state of Sino-US relations

Allan and Darren devote the bulk of this episode to Sino-US relations in the context of Vice President Mike Pence’s recent speech at the Hudson Institute. They discuss the primary audience for the speech and the significance of the fact that it was Pence, and not Donald Trump, who delivered it. Darren asks Allan to evaluate the “bet” the West made in the 1990s and early 2000s to try to integrate China into the US-led international order, Allan discusses the risks of trying to “other” China, and the two discuss alternative views inside China itself on how to interpret Pence’s speech. Finally, they analyse the speech through an Australian lens, in light Australia’s longstanding interest in keeping the US engaged in the region. 

Finally, Allan offers some reflections arising out of the excellent 2018 AIIA National Conference held on Monday 15 October.

As always, our thanks go to AIIA interns Stephanie Rowell and Mani Bovell, Martyn Pearce of the ANU’s Crawford School, Rory Stenning for composing our theme music, and AIIA CEO Melissa Conley-Tyler.

Relevant links

2018 AIIA National Conference highlights

Vice President Mike Pence's Remarks on the Administration's Policy Towards China 

Jeff Colgan and Robert Keohane in Foreign Affairs: The Liberal Order is Rigged

Chen Dingding in The Diplomat: 3 Types of Chinese Reactions to Mike Pence’s China Speech

Prime Minister of Australia The Hon Scott Morrison MP speech at Chinese-Australian Community Event

Ep. 5: UN General Assembly Meetings; US-China trade war; Australian foreign aid

In this fifth episode of the podcast, Allan and Darren begin by describing their recent overseas trips—Allan to Beijing, and Darren to Seoul.

The analysis of recent events opens with a focus on the recent leaders’ meetings at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Donald Trump made the most headlines by bringing his “America First” doctrine to the heart of global multilateralism, and Darren asks about the extent to which we should attach any significance to this fact. The discussion turns to Australia, and our new Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s UNGA speech and its contrast with Trump. While she was in New York, Senator Payne also met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hopefully advancing the “reset” in bilateral relations that was kicked off by (former) Prime Minister Turnbull. Finally, Allan and Darren discuss New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “baby diplomacy” in New York, and the genuine soft power success it represents.

The discussion turns to the trade war between the US and China, which escalated in September with a fresh round of tariffs being imposed on both sides. Darren elects to play devil’s advocate, posing three arguments to Allan for why the trade war might actually be positive for Australia’s interests—one economic, one strategic, and one political. Allan dismisses each in turn!

Finally, against the background of the recent earthquake and tsunami that has devastated the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and the city of Palu in particular, the discussion briefly takes stock of the current state of the Australian aid program, given the downgrading of the portfolio from a ministerial position—the new Assistant Minister is Senator Anne Ruston.

As always, our thanks go to AIIA interns Stephanie Rowell and Mani Bovell, Martyn Pearce of the ANU’s Crawford School, Rory Stenning for composing our theme music, and AIIA CEO Melissa Conley-Tyler.