BRISBANE—Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's "frank and friendly" approach towards China is unlikely to cause a major rupture in the Australia-Sino relations, but any concrete changes will be gradual, say China experts.
Dr Paul Monk, managing director of Australia's thinktank Austhink Consulting, believes the economic and political connections between Australia and China are strong enough to withstand the new tone. It may also serve as an encouragement to other politicians to become more vocal.
"I would say very little [will change] in the short term, but if more people start being … 'frank and friendly'—where friendly means honest and straight rather than just buttering people up, it may have an impact and I would give it some time," Dr Monk told The Epoch Times in a phone interview.
Last week Kevin Rudd made his first visit to China since being elected as Australia's 26th Prime Minster. He showed off his fluent Mandarin, mingled with the top communist officials, but he also made significant political statements.
Mr Rudd was not shy to confront sensitive topics like human rights in a public arena. He also spoke critically of poverty, problems of uneven development and problems of pollution faced by China today.
Hidden Words
But those who heard or read Kevin Rudd's infamous speech, delivered before thousands of students from Peking University on April 9, may have missed the key issues.
Not surprisingly, as the speech was in Mandarin and its main points are hidden in between the lines, says Geremie Barme, who has studied China for more than 30 years and is currently with the school of Pacific and Asian studies at the Australian National University. He has also known Mr Rudd since 1976.
"Kevin did do something fascinating during his speech, he used a word, a very ancient Chinese word zhengyou, and he said, 'I want to be, or we want to be a zhengyou of China'" said Geremie Barme to ABC's "Lateline."
"[Zhengyou] is a friend who can, on the basis of their principals and their beliefs, disagree with you and disagree directly and frankly," explained Professor Barme.
Although subtle, the point made is significant and "refreshing", says Dr Monk, who is also the former head of China analysis for the Defence Intelligence Organisation.
"What is refreshing is that he is putting this issue on the table and speaking positively about it, rather than using big nouns and words to evade the issue," commented Dr Monk.
Yet the in-between-the-lines messages also hinted at the need for greater political reform, believes Professor Barme. What some may view as simply "smart talk"—the Prime Minister spoke of highly regarded 20th century intellectuals from Peking University during his speech—was in fact a hint to the Chinese Government.
"…He mentioned Kang Youwei, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, none of whom were communist. All of whom said China needed constitutional reform, liberalisation, human rights, who stood up in the face of monarchy and dictatorship," said Professor Barme in the "Lateline" interview.
Human Rights on the Table
No less telling was Mr Rudd's open mention of the Tibet situation—a stark contrast to the previous Howard Government's "closed door" approach, when it came to human rights.
"The current situation in Tibet is of concern to Australians. We recognise the need for all parties to avoid violence and find a solution through dialogue," said the Prime Minister to a Peking University hall packed with academics and students.
"As a long-standing friend of China I intend to have a straightforward discussion with China's leaders on this. We wish to see the year 2008 as one of harmony, and celebration—not one of conflict and contention."
However, human rights activists say Mr Rudd should have been less selective about what human rights issues he raised in Beijing.
John Deller from the NSW Falun Dafa Association says Mr Rudd's mention of the Tibet situation was a "good first step", but believes the Prime Minister should have been more broad.
"We need to support him and help him see why it's so important for western leaders to speak up publicly and condemn the persecution of Falun Gong," said Mr Deller.
He notes that over 100 million people are currently affected by the persecution of the spiritual discipline, which has been under repression since 1999. This, he says, by far surpasses the crackdown in Tibet, which has a population of just over two million.
Dr Michael Pearson-Smith from the Victorian Falun Dafa Association went a step further to say that he is "disappointed" that Falun Gong was not raised. He cites evidence of over 1800 practitioners being rounded up in the last few weeks, which he says is part of China's crackdown before the Olympics.
"We are also getting reports that many of these practitioners die in custody relatively quickly," he said.
He also notes that Tibet is just "one small part of human rights abuses that the Chinese Government is responsible for."
"Its not just Falun Gong practitioners, its dissidents of any kind are being put away so that they cant cause any trouble in the lead up to the Olympics," said Dr Pearson-Smith.
His views were echoed by Sophie Peer, Australian Amnesty International China Campaign Coordinator.
"We certainly see a situation of publicly addressing human rights and agreeing to disagree is a positive step, [that] we have not seen for many years and we hope this is a start of a robust relationship," said Ms Peer. Australia has engaged in the annual bilateral closed door human rights dialogue with China since 1997—discussions which Ms Peer says have been "not transparent enough". Journalists and human rights organisations have never been admitted to the meetings and discussions are believed to be merely for show.
China has the highest execution rate in the world with at least 1500 believed to be killed annually. At least 250,000 remain detained in re-education through labour camps across China's 1100 labour camps or laogai.
Rudd's Speech Censored
Although Mr Rudd's forthright, albeit subtle approach was welcomed in the West, it was all but ignored in China itself.
Mr Rudd's speech has been effectively censored in the Chinese media, says Professor Barme. All mention of Tibet has been removed and only sections that acknowledge China's "sovereignty" over the region, together with the Prime Minister's support for the Olympics have been widely publicized.
"I hope that the full text of Kevin's speech would be published in Chinese and available to Chinese readers, not just selected highlights which is all I have seen so far," said Professor Barme to The Epoch Times.
Last week a book was released in China called Lies and Truth, which attacks Western press for misrepresenting the Tibet crisis. It accuses the media of being misinformed and also draws "undisputable" proof that the Dalai Lama orchestrated the March 14 demonstrations in Lhasa.
"Their greatest difficulty is that they … can't do it in dialogue with the Dalai Lama. They can't simply have a straight, honest dialogue about real problems," commented Dr Monk.
The Tibet crisis has prompted calls for an Olympic boycott from some world leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy. Australia's swimming legend Dawn Fraser has also declared she will not be attending the Games, but Mr Rudd has so far ruled out an Olympic Boycott.
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