Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews visited Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan of China for six days last week for trade promotion. The trip was announced just before departure and no media reporter was invited with him, that made a public concern.
Victoria had signed a memorandum with China on the ‘One belt one road Initiative’ project. That prompted a new legislation by the Federal government in 2020 for the Foreign Minister to have the right to revoke State government’s agreement signed with another nation. In 2021 indeed this authority was exercised to cancel two of such related memorandum as they did not align with national policy.
Daniel’s visit to China must be in the interest of Victoria if on our economic cooperation, but whether it would be in conflict with national foreign policy should be worked out in conjunction with the Federal government. As governments at both levels are Labor it could not be too hard for Daniel to obtain consensus.
But which tier of Chinese government is going to sign what with Victorian government cannot be of any secret; doing it without any media coverage sounds fishy. Now not only the economic relation between US-China is tense, and on the Russia-Ukraine war our nation and people are on the side of Ukrainians in defending their territory, while China sides with Russia to the extent of military support. All these make Australia-China relation uneasy.
Hence, Australians should be well informed of the dealings between Victoria and China. Andrews should not just tell it’s all about economic cooperation with no details. Actually economic sanctions are being employed by western nations including Australia to force Russia out of Ukraine.
Two weeks later WA premier McGowan is visiting China with his delegation in high profile and full reporting on the outcome. That will make Australians feel much more comfortable.
Andrews has been known for his high hand governance with strong leadership. But if not managed well, people might feel they are being kept in the dark. Hope he will soon give his account on his dealing with China to take away our skepticism.
Mr. Raymond Chow, Publisher