Former ACBC Chief Duncan Calder Fears Consequences For Australia Of Apec Confrontation - Duncan Calder, past National President of the Australia China Business Council, is fearful that the fallout for Australia from the recent APEC gathering will be significant and lasting.

1. Former ACBC Chief Duncan
Calder Fears Consequences For
Australia Of Apec Confrontation
Former ACBC Chief Duncan Calder Fears
Consequences For Australia Of Apec
Confrontation - Duncan Calder, past National
President of the Australia China Business
Council, is fearful that the fallout for Australia
from the recent APEC gathering will be
significant and lasting.

2. Has President Donald Trump's genius been on
display again at APEC? Have we just witnessed
a re-run of his successful NATO strategy?
He has fractured the APEC regional structure
that Keating promoted to bring both sides of the
Pacific together and he has left it less relevant
and less of a problem for him. This ugly APEC
confrontation will mean more than a sour and
bitter aftertaste for Australia - and no-one in our
media has even noticed.
When I came to Australia 30 years ago, I was
most impressed by the celebrated Aussie
principles of "fair go" and "fair dinkum". This was
even reflected in Australian journalism which,
back then, largely presented balanced and
independent analysis.
Sadly those days are long gone.
Tabloid journalism combined with falling
revenues has seemed an alarming plummet in
the quality of reporting. That was very much in
evidence this week in the reporting of the APEC
summit.

3. Thank goodness for the Straits Times, which
publishes, in English, a balanced perspective;
not one crafted by puppets of US' worldview or
China's worldview. After all, neither side is
angels – both have self-interest at
heart. Perhaps a read of this article and others
by ST will highlight for you just how far our
standards have fallen in Australia.
Even the Financial Review plumbed the depths
yesterday with an inflammatory and
inaccurate headline "China revolt derails
APEC".
Total nonsense. Let's examine some facts (just
for a change).
The US sought to direct APEC debate towards
aggressive criticism of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) and away from Asia Pacific
issues. Why? APEC has no charter over the
WTO. The WTO is the forum that is appropriate
for such debate.
I remember when the US used to defend the
WTO as the gold standard - but now China has

4. At APEC, China simply stood up for the WTO as
an invaluable multilateral trade system. Did
Australia?
APEC is a consensus-based forum - for the US
to seek to manipulate the closing communique
for its own political ends is unheard of in all
previous APEC meetings.
No western media notes that. Trump has long
stood against regional consensus and non-US
controlled regional structures (his withdrawal
from the TPP is a testimony to his).
Again we see the genius of Trump's aggression
and strategy in that he leaves APEC fractured
and with reduced influence and relevance going
forward - which aligns nicely with his goals.
I look forward to Paul Keating's observations as
the architect of APEC as a vehicle to bring both
sides of the Pacific together.
APEC losing relevance is not in Australia's
interest - but why don't our local media see that?
We are Trump's puppet and we don't even see it!

5. US and Australia used the forum for
inflammatory geopolitical military
announcements, rather than trade and positive
agenda items - with the announcement of
Manus as an expanded military facility
clearly targeted at China.
In fact, China has no history of deploying its
troops around the globe, not even when it was
the global super power in the 14th and 15th
centuries. Yes, it has a small overseas presence
- but minor and in places like Djibouti. On the
other hand, the US has 800 overseas military
bases in over 70 countries.
Who does that suggest is using military power
for economic hegemony? Where is the common
sense or "smell test" filter on the ridiculous fear-
mongering coming out of the Garnaut/ASIO
inspired Canberra hawks as the more balanced
view of DFAT is, sadly, increasingly being
sidelined and ignored?
China does not, in fact, have a history of
aggressive overseas military actions (except as

6. The Australian media seems to be falling nicely
in behind a dark, hard-line anti-Belt & Road
Initiative stance. Fear mongering is widespread
suggesting that China is attempting to take over
the world through helping countries to grow
through providing critical economic
infrastructure, especially, port, rail and roads.
NOT ONCE have I seen the Australian media
comment on the jobs, trade and massive
revenue inflows and massive benefits that are
being experienced within countries who are
beneficiaries of BRI.
NOT ONCE have I seen any recognition of the
political reality that China's overriding, primary
motivation with BRI is to continue to provide
jobs for the millions in its workforce who have
built China's road, rail and port infrastructure
and need new markets to be opened up to stay
employed. China's primary goal is always
internal stability.
This is all incredibly sad to watch as the sad
state of Sino-Australian relationships over the
last 3 years worsens with falling levels of

7. Being one consequence. Perhaps Canberra
needs a reminder from those of us in business
dealing with and relying on our friendships with
China and Chinese people that our relations
with our (far and away) most important trading
partner need to be treated with respect. Much
more respect. Like we rightly show the US.
Let us not forget that, without China's custom
our resources sector, our tourism sector and our
education sector will collapse.
We have provoked China repeatedly, starting
with Julie Bishop's claim in Singapore that
China has no role to play in the region, through
to selective anti-China use by the Treasurer of
FIRB approvals and on to criticisms of Belt &
Road and the announcement of new military
alliances.
Let's hope that the price we will inevitably pay
as a country for the lack of respect shown to
China does not bring catastrophic economic
consequences for us. Western Australia and
Victoria are particularly exposed - perhaps why
the Victorian Government has taken a more

8. BRI with its recent vague but important MOU?
We Australian businessmen all need to play our
part in reversing the decline from close, trading
partnership to aggressive, deep mistrust and
blatant antagonism.
The price of failure doesn't bear thinking about.
The sad trend needs reversing.
In the meantime, Australian businesses need to
collaborate proactively to seek to capitalise on
the $10 trillion being spent on BRI projects
around the world, since we don't look like
receiving any BRI infrastructure investment into
Australia any time soon in this current
environment.
Let’s pack our sunscreen and head to Africa for
some friendly business!
Duncan Calder, past National President of the
Australia China Business Council, sees that the
role of investment advisers, like Contour
Capital, is to encourage a focus on win-win
relationships that yield cultural, social and

9. Source Link:
https://www.issuewire.com/former-
acbc-chief-duncan-calder-fears-
consequences-for-australia-of-apec-
confrontation-1617742446002216
Thanks for Watching
Duncan Calder
PO Box 1431, South Perth WA 6951
duncan.calder@manna.org.au
https://www.manna.org.au/