Forty Years of Australia-PRC Diplomatic Relations
On 21 December 1972, the Australian government under then prime minister Gough Whitlam formally recognised and established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), through the signing of a joint communiqué by the Australian and PRC ambassadors in Paris.
Thus, the year 2012 marked the fortieth anniversary of the formal bilateral relationship. The milestone was commemorated in Australia and China by a series of official state visits, trade fairs and business forums, academic conferences and commissioned history projects, cultural exchanges and arts exhibitions, Australia Week events held across China and Chinese community events in Australia. The celebrations culminated in two gala dinners hosted respectively by then Australian prime minister Julia Gillard at Parliament House in Canberra and by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Speeches by official representatives focused upon how thriving economic ties, flourishing people-to-people connections in the education and tourism sectors, the need to continue deepening political, economic and cultural bonds, and the visionary role played by Whitlam and the Australian Labor Party of the day in recognising the PRC all provided strong underpinnings to the relationship.
The fortieth anniversary also provided an opportunity for luminaries from both countries to publish works taking stock of the Australia–China relationship. Notable amongst these for its influence and comprehensiveness was a keynote address by Dr Stephen FitzGerald, first Australian Ambassador to the PRC, published in a bilingual format in The China Story Journal produced by the Australian Centre on China in the World and entitled ‘Australia and China at Forty: Stretch of the Imagination’ [link].
Links
- Australia-China Council, ‘40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations’, 2012.
- Australian Embassy in China, ‘Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations’, 2012.
- Australian Embassy in China, ‘News and Photo Archives’, 2012.
- Australian Centre on China in the World and China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Australia and China: A Joint Report on the Bilateral Relationship, Canberra: The Australian National University, 2012.
- The Whitlam Institute at the University of Western Sydney, ‘Whitlam and China’, 2012.
- National Library of Australia, ‘Beyond the Cables – Australian Ambassadors to China Oral History Project’, 2012.
- National Archives of Australia, ‘Australia’s Diplomatic Relations with China’, Fact Sheet 247, 2012.
- University of Sydney Confucius Institute, ‘40 Years Australia & China’, 2012.
- Roxby Media and Australia China Business Council, ‘Australia China: Celebrating 40 Years’, Australia China: Beyond Tomorrow, 2012.
November 2011
- Kevin Rudd MP, ‘40 Years: The Australia-China Relationship’, Speech to the Australia-China Forum, Parliament House, Canberra, 2 November 2011.
May 2012
- Senator Bob Carr, ‘Remarks to Launch of the 40th Anniversary of Australia China Diplomatic Relations’, Capital M, Beijing, 15 May 2012.
June 2012
- Geoff Raby, ‘Australia and China Forty Years On’, Meanjin, 4 June 2012.
- Rowan Callick, ‘After 40 Years the China-Australia Relationship is Underachieving’, The Australian, 9 June 2012.
- James Reilly and Jingdong Yuan (eds.), Australia and China at 40, Sydney: UNSW Press, June 2012.
July 2012
- Wayne Swan MP, ‘Opening Remarks – 40 Years of Friendship’, Gala Dinner Celebrating 40th Anniversary of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations, Beijing, 13 July 2012.
August 2012
- Geoff Raby, ‘Australia and China at 40: Pivot, Divot and the US’, Richard Larkins Oration, Monash University, Melbourne, 7 August 2012.
September 2012
- Griffith University and Peking University, ‘The Australia-China Relationship at Forty: Building a Pathway for the Future’, Australia-China Futures Dialogue, Beijing, 25–26 September 2012.
- The Whitlam Institute at the University of Western Sydney, ‘For The Record: Gough Whitlam’s Mission to China 1971’, The Whitlam Legacy, September 2012.
- Stephen FitzGerald, ‘The Coup That Laid the Fear of China: Gough Whitlam in Beijing 1971’, The Whitlam Legacy, Whitlam Institute within the University of Western Sydney, September 2012.
October 2012
- Antonia Finnane, ‘Between Economy and Security?: Review of Australia and China at 40 edited by James Reilly and Jingdong Yuan’, Inside Story, 1 October 2012.
- Stephen Fitzgerald, ‘Whitlam’s China Masterstroke’, The Australian Financial Review, 5 October 2012.
- Greg Earl, ‘Slow train to China’s wealth and riches’, Australian Financial Review, 5 October 2012.
- Senator Bob Carr, ‘Reflective Essay – A Tradition of Engagement’, Asialink Index, 26 October 2012.
- ABC, ‘ABC’s 40th Anniversary of Reporting from China’, ABC News, 31 October 2012.
November 2012
- Gregory Clark, ‘Ping-Pong Play that Led to China’, The Australian, 10 November 2012.
- Stephen FitzGerald, ‘Australia and China at Forty: Stretch of the Imagination’, The China Story Journal, 12 November 2012. Chinese translation published by The China Story Journal as ‘A Chinese Stretch of the Imagination 舒展的想象力－澳大利亚与中国已届四十年’, The China Story Journal, 28 December 2012.
- University of Sydney China Studies Centre, ‘40th Anniversary of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations Essay Competition Awards Ceremony’, 16 November 2012.
- National Archives of Australia, ‘Australian-Chinese Relations – 40 Years On’, media Release, 21 November 2012.
- Rowan Callick, ‘40 Years of China-Australia Diplomatic Relations: Where It All Began’, Australia China Connections, November/December 2012.
December 2012
- Geremie Barmé, ‘Doubtless at Forty 四十不惑’, The China Story Journal, 1 December 2012.
- Daniel Flitton, ‘Australia’s Fortune Cookie?’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 December 2012.
- Parliament of Australia, ‘State Visit – Dinner for Her Excellency Liu Yandong’ – Speeches’, 12 December 2012.
- Prime Minister Julia Gillard, ‘Speech to the Gala Dinner – Fortieth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Between Australia and The People’s Republic of China’, Parliament House, Canberra, 12 December 2012.
- Andrew Robb MP, ‘Address on the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with The People’s Republic of China’, Parliament House, Canberra, 12 December 2012.
- Julia Gillard, ‘We’ll Follow Whitlam’s Way on China’, The Australian, 12 December 2012.
- Laurie Pearcey, ‘Reflecting on Australia and China, 40 Years Young’, The Conversation, 12 December 2012.
- Daniel Flitton, ‘Handshakes, But No Questions’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 2012.
- Catherine McGrath, ‘Australia and China Celebrate 40 Years of Diplomacy’, Australia Network News, 13 December 2012.
- Xinhua, ‘Senior Chinese Official Lauds Ties with Australia’, Xinhua Net, 13 December 2013.
- Wilson Au-Yeung, Alison Keys and Paul Fischer, ‘Australia-China: Not Just 40 Years’, Economic Roundup, Issue 4, The Treasury, Australian Government, 13 December 2012.
- Xinhua, ‘China, Australia Mark 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations’, Xinhuanet, 15 December 2012.
- Ambassador Chen Yuming, ‘China-Australia Relations Have Grown Robustly’, Australian Financial Review, 20 December 2012.
- CNTV, ‘China, Australia Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Economics Ties’, CCTV English, 20 December 2012.
- Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan, ‘40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Australia and China’, Media Release, 21 December 2012.
- The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, ‘中国和澳大利亚两国总理互致贺电庆祝建交40周年’, 21 December 2012.
- CNTV, ‘40th Anniversary of China-Australia Relations: China-Australia Political and Cultural Ties’, CCTV English, 21 December 2012.
- Xinhua, ‘China, Australia Mark 40 Years of Ties’, China Radio International, 21 December 2012.
- Rowan Callick, ‘Wall Came Tumbling Down’, The Australian, 21 December 2012.
- Liam Cochrane, ‘China, Australia Mark 40 Years of Diplomatic Relations’, ABC Radio Australia, 21 December 2012.
- Fran Kelly, ‘40 Years of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations’, ABC Radio National, 27 December 2012.
February 2013
- Andrew Hunter, ‘Diplomacy Relegated to History’, Canberra Times, 22 February 2013.
- Linda Jaivin, ‘Fairweather Mates – Forty Years of Australian-Chinese Diplomacy’, The Monthly, February 2013.
March 2013
- Michael Sainsbury, ‘Review: Australia and China at Forty: Stretch of the Imagination by Stephen FitzGerald’, Little Red Blog, 8 March 2013.
- Zang Langshen, ‘Change in the Making: Celebrating Forty Years of Australia-China Diplomatic Relations’, Broadsheet, vol. 42, no. 1, 13 March 2013.
April 2013
- Australian Government, Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, ‘Expanding our Horizons: Forty Years of Australia-China Collaboration and Exchange in Education, Science and Research’, April 2013.
November 2013
- ABC, ‘Timeline: ABC marks 40 years of reporting from China’, ABC News, 1 November 2013.
- Paul Raffaele, ‘Reporting on China 40 years ago: restrictions, frustrations and reading between the lines’, ABC News, 5 November 2013.
- ABC, ‘The past in a different country: Australian expats share memories of living in China’, ABC News, 6 November 2013.
October 2014
- Ryan Manuel, ‘Whitlam’s China coup still resonates’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 October 2014.
June 2015
- Australia-China Relations Institute, ‘The Hawke Government’s China Policy’, 15 June 2015.