Originally Posted by
dr dre
Most Australians (and westerners) forget they are dealing with a history, culture and people who go back a lot, lot longer than Australia has been around. The thought our little minnow of a country is going to influence them in any way is hilarious.
Just to put that comparison in context, it would be like a nation the size of the Solomon Islands or the GDP of PNG dictating how Australia should act. Australians would be pissing their pants laughing if either one of them tried, but that’s how Australians are acting here to a country of comparative size.
Really? I think most Australians are quite aware that China is a big nation and an old culture. It is also a repressive totalitarian state, also a fact known to most Australians (and Westerners). Just because people don't see things your way does not mean that they're stupid.
The fact that we are relatively small does not mean that we can't or shouldn't speak up when we feel the need to do so, particularly when China's actions have a direct effect on us.
Anti-Chinese sentiment has been around since at least the gold rushes. But I don't think that the current concern about the increasing influence of China can be dismissed as racism.
China has been by far the largest foreign investor in Australia for the last several years and is the largest foreign owner of agricultural land. Personally, I'm happy to sell China our products, but not happy that they own so much of our land and resources. I believe that most Australians (and Westerners) believe that under the Xi regime they have not been good global citizens, and their aggressive expansionism is a cause for real concern for those of us in the Pacific.