Observation Network reported that during an interview, Australian Trade Minister Farrell focused on Australia's relations with China and the United States.

It was surprising, but not entirely unexpected, that Farrell completely aligned with China's position and looked down on the U.S.

The gist of what Farrell said was that during the economic war instigated by the U.S., the Trump administration asked Australia to cooperate with the U.S. to counter China, but Farrell believed this was wishful thinking.

He stated that Australia did not want to reduce its business dealings with China, but rather hoped to expand them.

Farrell emphasized that Australia would decide its relations with China based on national interests, not according to American demands.

Farrell pointed out that in terms of business, China's importance to Australia is ten times that of the U.S.

Australia has indeed changed

In recent elections, the process was uneventful and lacked suspense, with the opposition failing to create much of a stir.

One of the more interesting phenomena was that during the election, there were not many "anti-China" cards played. Even the previously highly anti-China opposition changed their stance.

This indicates that within Australia, there is a pragmatic tendency in handling relations with China, rather than an adversarial one.

It also shows that using the "anti-China" card in Australia no longer has much effect, unlike in the U.S. and Canada, where politicians are more inclined to provoke disputes with China. However, in Australia, this trend is clearly not as strong as it was a few years ago.

They have really learned their lesson

The reason for this change is that after Australia actively adopted an anti-China stance a few years ago, they realized the pain.

The last time Australia moved from being friendly to China to opposing it was due to Trump. It turns out that this shift was a major mistake.

After the Labor Party won the election, Albanese began seeking to ease relations with China, not just going through the motions, which has led to a warming of Sino-Australian relations and gradually returning them to normalcy.

Farrell said that it took Australia three years to restore relations to the appropriate level.

This shows that the current Australian government understands how difficult it is to restore relations and will not easily destroy them again.

Moreover, there is another situation now: Trump's indiscriminate attacks have affected trade between the U.S. and Australia. However, trade between the U.S. and Australia is not significant, so Australia does not care too much.

Another thing to note is that Australia can make up for losses. For example, it can replace the U.S. in certain areas to supply China. Therefore, they are not worried about not reaching an agreement with the U.S. If not, it doesn't matter as long as China remains the mainstay.

Rationality is still needed

Of course, this does not mean that Sino-Australian relations are perfect. Compared to when the strategic partnership was established, current Sino-Australian relations are not particularly good. Overall, they remain politically cold but economically warm.

This should be the tone of future cooperation between Australia, the U.S., and other main allies with China. There will be differences, but deeper cooperation will continue, especially in economic cooperation.

You can't expect the relationship to become overly close; it's unrealistic. However, these countries will not suddenly take a stance or flip-flop without reason.

This is because China's influence and comprehensive national strength are still rising, while the U.S. is declining. As you grow stronger, others will naturally weigh their options when interacting with you, even considering the U.S., especially for countries like Australia, which have suffered greatly from following the U.S. in opposing China.

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