Posted on 05/18/2006 1:55:27 AM PDT by NZerFromHK
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has a record that is the envy of conservative leaders around the world. Recently elected to a fourth term (with an enhanced majority, to boot), he has charted a distinctive and largely successful course for Australia's international relations over the past decade.
As the Harper government begins to formulate its own approach to foreign policy, Mr. Howard arrives in Ottawa at an opportune moment.
Under Mr. Howard's leadership, Australia's ties with the United States have warmed considerably, stemming in large part from Canberra's staunch support for U.S.-led anti-terrorism initiatives and the invasion of Iraq. Mr. Howard has a relationship with George W. Bush that Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin were never able to strike. In 2005, Australia signed a free-trade agreement with the U.S., joining an elite club of countries that have preferential access to the richest market in the world.
The most important lesson from Canberra is not the closer relationship to Washington. Rather, it is the way that Australia has burnished its credentials as a serious player in Asia and invested in a long-term strategy for commercial and diplomatic success in the region.
Even allowing for geography, Australia has outperformed Canada in a variety of areas. For example, the stock of Asian foreign direct investment in Canada is about a fifth of Asian investment in Australia. In the area of international education, Canada played host to 87,000 students from Asia, compared to the 230,000 Asian students who studied in Australia in the same year.
Australia has signed free-trade agreements with Singapore and Thailand, and is negotiating them with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Malaysia, China and Japan. It exported about $25-billion worth of goods to Japan in 2005, compared to Canada's $9-billion. The Howard government has made a substantial commitment to the promotion of Australian goods and services overseas by establishing trade, investment and education marketing offices in key Asian countries. Australia has also invested substantially in tourism promotion throughout Asia, attracting 60 per cent more visitors from Japan, China and South Korea in 2005 than Canada did.
Mr. Howard's government has been successful in making the case for Australia as an integral part of Asia, and in promoting the Australian "brand' in the region. The determination and persistence of the Australian lobby in Asia (which predates the Howard government) was rewarded in December when Australia became a charter member of the East Asia summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Australia demonstrates that long-term thinking and patient development of human relations with Asian countries, backed by significant investment of human and financial resources from the private and public sectors, yield commercial and diplomatic results. By consistently stressing the importance of Asia for Australia in rhetorical and material ways, Canberra sent a very strong signal to the private sector and civil society about taking Asia seriously. As a result, Australians generally consider Asia as a natural destination for business, educational linkages and cultural exchange.
Outside of U.S. Ivy League schools, Australian universities are the most successful in the world in attracting Asian students and establishing campuses in Asian countries. Unlike Canada, where international education marketing is fragmented, Australia has a single window approach -including admissions and visa applications - that is both more efficient and more effective in promoting the merits of an Australian education.
Australia's success in Asia is all the more impressive considering that many Asians resent Canberra's "closer embrace" of the United States. Mr. Howard has skillfully separated Australia's economic interests in Asia from its pro-U.S. stand on broader global issues. While Americans constantly lecture Beijing on the value of the yuan and threaten major protectionist actions, Australia is quietly negotiating a free-trade agreement with China and vigorously courting Chinese investment. When the Chinese oil giant CNOOC proposed a takeover of U.S.-based Unocal Corp., there was outrage in Congress and among American leaders. The same company was able to acquire a significant stake in the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas field off Western Australia with little or no opposition from the Australian public.
Mr. Howard's experience and track record in Asia may well be a source of comfort and inspiration for the Harper government as it develops its own approach to Asia. Maintaining a strategic partnership with China, promoting an Asia Pacific Gateway strategy, and connecting to the economic dynamism of an increasingly integrated East Asia - all while deepening economic and political relations with the U.S. - will demand the blend of pragmatism and innovation that Mr. Howard espouses. As Ottawa looks for a Conservative foreign policy, Mr. Howard could be a better teacher than his American mates.
Paul Evans and Yuen Pau Woo are co-CEOs of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
The authors also fail to remember that "Asia" is larger than merely East and Southeast Asia, or the Far East in British terminology. Nothing about South Asia in the article which shows the great limitations of the article.
However, that Mr. Harper and Mr. Howard are meeting is excellent! There might be enough Conservative energy in the room to melt steel. Or at least, Liberal hopes.
I have the feeling that in Stephen Harper, Canada has found a conservative leader who will be there for the long haul. Apparently Howard will be addressing the Canadian parliament. Wait for bleeding liberals to do a big Aussie bash at the G & M.
He's a policy wonk, rather than a natural politician, which is of some concern in terms of electability. But how many politician's write position papers espousing a return to "Burkean Conservatism"? Not many, save Mr. Harper.
And it's true, the Liberals will give the Aussie's their 2 minutes of hate. But that's a badge of honor, after all.
This article draws comparisons between Harper and Howard. "The Australian" is a top newspaper:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,19170618-28737,00.html
Good read. One of my good friends from University was an Aussie. When I dutifully said "Foster's, Australian for beer" he replied "That *%$@ tastes like piss". I knew we'd get along.
The Libs have begun the big Aussie bash at the G & M. I think Aussies are second on their hate list after the US. We must be doing something right.
The left can bash us as much as they like. The fact is John Howard has the runs on the board.
We're mighty proud of him - grateful, too!
Yeah, we in India resent the Aussie support for China's nuclear ambitions and their double standard when they talk about selling India uranium. Well our time will come...
This is one Aussie who would never want to live anywhere else.
India has a better base on which to build although the commies and the socialists are very well entrenched there.
Oh well, they are in the EU, Canada and NZ too but many people are realizing that an individuals rights to own property and conduct business, coupled with national sovereignty, is the basis of American prosperity and any nation that wants to can do the same.
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