I've been pressing the case for some time that Howard and Downer's blind dalliance with the China trade juggernaut, at the expense of human rights considerations, does not bode well.
Labour abuses, poor product quality control, exploitation of and discrimination against ethnic minorities, inadequate pollution and waste management systems, are just a few of the concerns surrounding China's rapid economic expansion.
Its military build up, ongoing threatening posture toward Taiwan and other regional players, and deepening persecution of dissidents such as Tibetan activists and Falun Gong practitioners are clear indicators of the growing threat the Chinese regime presents to global peace.
ABC reports the former head of the international and strategic divisions of the Defence Department, Allan Behm, told an APEC seminar at the Fabian Society last night that Australia does not understand China.
"Chinese strategy is built around a zero sum game - that for every winner there is a loser, and it is very important to understand that," he said.
"That is what is taught at the PLA academy of science in Beijing, and this is how fundamentally China thinks."
China wants a good relationship with Australia because it needs our resources.
But Mr Behm argues Australia is lazy and complacent about China.
"I think what worries me so much about our current policy is that we don't foresee a future where it may not be as rosy as it is now and we will be ill-prepared for that," he said."
The losers in the Chinese zero sum game are mounting. Calls for boycotts of the Beijing Olympics are getting louder.
"Australia's former human rights commissioner, Dr Sev Ozdowski, has likened next year's Beijing Olympics to the 1936 Berlin Olympics under Adolf Hitler, saying it is a similar display of economic power despite millions being persecuted in the background.
"There is no freedom of speech," he said.
"People get arrested and sent to jail because of the content of their private emails."
Wake up Australia!
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