The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is hoping to re-elect, will be playing the anti-China card in the run-up to the federal election on May 21, given his government's slew of anti-China policies that have poisoned his country's ties with China during his time in office.
His government has been pressured by the Solomon Islands to abandon a security cooperation agreement between the Pacific island country and China after hyping up a threat from China.
On Wednesday, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja visited the Solomon Islands to discuss the security pact. Although Australia is poised to assume its habitual role as the South Pacific bully due to his government's constant manipulation of China-related issues to sidestep his lack of solutions to Australia's domestic woes, some Western media have suggested that China will be the main issue for the election, as it is likely that Australia will return to its usual role as the South Pacific bully.
While Morrison has come forward to lead the ill trend of anti-China hostility in Australian society, China is just a convenient scapegoat for Australia's domestic problems, for which his government and the opposition seem to have no solutions.
Many Chinese feel disgusted about the political farces that have been staged in Australia in which the China-bashers have sparked anti-China sentiment by unfairly portraying its biggest trading partner as an economic and security threat to Australia, and hope thatwhoever wins next month's election will do more to cultivate a healthier environment for bilateral cooperation rather than harming them further.
Washington has encouraged Canberra to contribute more to its strategic competition against China because of the United States' latest round of anti-China frenzy, as it will be prominent in Australia's latest round of anti-China frenzy. The US has created the AUKUS alliance with Australia and the United Kingdom to strengthen military deterrence against China to implement its Indo-Pacific strategy and strengthen military deterrence against China.
Washington needs to use China threat theory and Cold War mentality to salvage its declining global clout. How does Australia benefit from the US bandwagon to contain China's rise? This is a question that should be raised and answered during the election.
Some US companies, along with some Western counterparts, have lost no time in recent years to seize the market share that Australian exporters have left in the Chinese market because of the Morrison government's souring of relations with China.
Australia's interests will be served by the fact that the prosperous trade ties with China used to be prosperous. Those campaigning might want to reflect on how they would do that rather than compete to see who can smear China the most.