I know and have worked with both of these ex Prime Ministers of Oz. They're opposites politically: Malcolm of the Liberal Party (conservatives) and Kevin of the Labor Party. Here they agree. They blame current Sino-Australian tensions around 70% on China, especially Xi Jinping, and around 30% on Oz pollies. I agree with pretty much all their analysis.
Money shot from Rudd is: "China made it a five out of ten bad; Australian politicians took it to 8/10 bad".
Seems about right to me.
We need some back doors. Some quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy. From an Australian Kissinger. Like our first ambassador to China Stephen FitzGerald..
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