The Chinese Communist Party grows bolder every day after putting once-democratic Hong Kong under its collective boot and world leaders such as Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison are pushing back.
China has a long-standing reputation for repression, theft, and currency manipulation. U.S. President Donald Trump sounded the alarm during the run-up to the 2016 election and crushed the communists in a protracted trade war. Even now, Chinese diplomats were dispatched to Washington, D.C., to plead for leniency after failing to meet their obligations under Phase One of a trade deal. The American success appears to have broadened the confidence of other world leaders who have coupled their economies to China’s. Prime Minister Morrison recently unleashed a series of policy moves that draw a red line in the sand.
Australia offered upwards of 42,000 Chinese students asylum following the violent attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Following a repeat offense on Hong Kong residents, Australia is stinging China with another so-called “brain drain.”
“There is so much talent in Hong Kong,” acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge reportedly said. “There are great businesses in Hong Kong. And we know that many individuals now might be looking elsewhere, because they do want to be in a freer country, they want to be in a democratic country.”
According to Australian data, approximately 10,000 Hong Kong residents have work or student visas in Australia with another 3,750 in the pipeline. Under Australia’s Global Talent Scheme, they will move to the front of the line. Not only has Australia prioritized those with degrees and specialized skills, but government officials are also reaching out to Hong Kong business owners to move their assets. To that end, Australia recently changed its travel advisory to read: “reconsider your need to remain in Hong Kong.”
“There will be citizens of Hong Kong who may be looking to move elsewhere, to start a new life somewhere else, to take their skills, their businesses,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
China has supplemented its state-run companies and offered lucrative deals to lure companies away from free countries. Needless to say, the regime is none too happy about Australia following America’s lead. In response, China has issued another toothless threat, much like it did when President Trump took them to task.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian threatened that unless Australia stopped interfering and attractive Hong Kong citizens, “it will lead to nothing but lifting a rock only to hit its own feet.”
But China made these same types of proverbial warnings often found in fortune cookies before. Forecasting economic recession in the U.S. and high cost of consumer goods, none of these things can true. What President Trump exposed is that China lacks the self-sufficiency to steady its economy.
As China wags its finger and points to more than $100 billion (U.S.) in exports to the Asian power, it fails to articulate the fact that without Australian iron and coal imports, its manufacturing sector would grind to a halt.
After the communists were economically defeated by Trump, world leaders enjoy the leverage and roadmap to bring them to heel. Australia appears to be flipping the script by drawing wealth and skills away from China.
