Australia China Relations Institute

The Australia China Relations Institute , ACRI, is a think tank and government-affiliated organization dedicated to researching, promoting and further developing Sino-Australian relations, primarily in scientific and economic terms. Her work covers all relevant areas of social life, culture and diplomacy in traffic between Australia and the People's Republic of China .

Foundation and seat

The ACRI started operations in December 2013; The founding act took place on May 16, 2014, with the participation and speeches of the Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Chinese Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu. Its chairman is the former Australian Secretary of State Bob Carr , his deputy is James Laurenceson, until then an associate professor (senior lecturer ) for economics at the University of Queensland. The headquarters of the ACRI is the Technical University of Sydney .

aims

According to Laurenceson, the institution has its task in the field of international understanding:

“What opportunities and challenges will arise from the fact that 500 million Chinese will move up to the middle class by 2021? This historically significant increase will have far-reaching implications for Australia, from mining to services to agriculture ”

- James Laurenceson

Among other things, the Australian tourism industry is demanding that its government significantly increase the number of visas for nationals of the People's Republic of China.

On November 19, 2014, the two countries signed a free trade agreement . One million people of Chinese nationality or descent live or work in Australia.

Bob Hawke , longtime Prime Minister of Australia, assessed the agreement and its political environment as follows:

"We are only just beginning to grasp the extent of China's political and economic power, to understand its far-reaching goals and to adequately grapple with its complex characteristics."

- Hawke at the University of Queensland Asia Pacific Forum , Nov. 26, 2014

Huang Xiangmo, president of Australia's Yuhu Economic Group and long-time Labor Party promoter , donated AU $ 1.8 million to the Technical University to help build the institute. Another benefactor was the Chinese entrepreneur Zhou Chulong.

Science cooperation

In 2013, at the same time as the institute was planned, the Technical University of Sydney signed cooperation agreements with the Sun Yat-sen University (Guangdong) , SYSU, and with the Jiaotong University Shanghai上海交通大学 (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), SJTU, for Exchange of academic staff and students, with the latter within the framework of the "Australian Technology Network". The starting point of the program with the SJTU was an invitation to two students from China who will take a doctoral degree (dual doctoral degree) in the field of computer science recognized in both countries and receive a research grant for their stay in Sydney.

Studies

In November 2014, ACRI published a study with scenarios of Sino-Japanese territorial conflicts in the China Sea and Australian obligations under the ANZUS agreement .

commissioned an opinion poll on the attitude of Australians in the event of a war between Japan and China. The December 2014 poll found that 71% would like a “neutral” position, 15% say Australia should support the US and Japan, and 4% say Australia should support China.