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Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

Media Release Thursday, 4 May 2017

Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary
PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058
Phone: 1800 636 432
Email: cec@cecaust.com.au
Website: http://cec.cecaust.com.au
 

Australia: time to get with the Belt and Road program!

In just under two weeks’ time China is expected to host 110 countries, at least 28 heads of state, and 61 organisations for what will likely be the most significant global forum in many decades, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. If the Turnbull government is serious about rebuilding Australia, the Prime Minister should personally attend this forum on 14-15 May, and finally accept China’s offer to join its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Australia has essentially rebuffed at least four invitations from the highest levels to join the BRI: From Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, when he visited Australia and addressed the parliament in November 2014; the proposal from Xi to align China’s Belt and Road with Australia’s northern development plan, made during Prime Minister Turnbull’s trip to Beijing in April 2016; Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s restatement of that offer in February this year; and Premier Li Keqiang’s March proposal of the same. Each time our spokesmen voiced general platitudes about the idea, but no concrete steps have been taken, no memorandum has been signed.

The Parliamentary Library’s Briefing Book, provided to all new parliamentarians on arrival in Canberra in September last year, urged caution towards China’s Belt and Road initiative, painting it as a geopolitical ploy to gain influence and build economic and strategic dominance in the region.

In reality, China’s vision encompasses sweeping infrastructure projects to uplift the economies of nations it trades with, the sharing of cultures, and unleashing peace through cooperation and development. Concretely, the project comprises two integrated projects: the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, a network of developmental corridors linking East Asia to Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with high-speed rail; and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, the development of new ports, canals and shipping lanes throughout Southeast Asia and all the way to sub-Saharan Africa.

Since the latest G20 leaders’ summit in September 2016 hosted by China, President Xi has pushed for a “new path of economic development” globally. One hundred countries and institutions have already joined the Belt and Road Initiative. New multilateral development banks have created another source of funds for infrastructure building, from the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) now with 70 members, to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) New Development Bank, and the Silk Road Development and New Maritime Silk Road Funds.

The Turnbull government’s reluctance betrays a strategic mindset that is still 100 per cent oriented to the old era of Anglo-American domination of the region, which views China as a threat. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop won’t attend the BRI forum in our region, but she has just attended NATO cyber-warfare exercises all the way over in Estonia, targeted at a fictional threat dubbed Crimsonia or the “red menace”. She continues to express disdain for China, insisting they abide by “the rules based order”, i.e. Anglo-American rules.

The craziest part about Australia’s continued subservience to arbitrary Anglo-American-dictated rules, which is costing us incredible opportunities in our region, is that the USA under Donald Trump is shifting away from those rules. The election of Trump, like the other political upsets of late, is the result of a tidal wave of popular revolt sweeping the globe—against financial globalisation. (Financial globalisation is not technological interconnectedness, but a London-Wall Street fraud to loot nations and their industries.) Trump currently appears to be forging a better relationship with China than Australia has, and this week he confirmed he is looking to deliver on his campaign pledge to break up the big banks through a Glass-Steagall separation of commercial banks from investment banks. China has this separation, and there is a big push to enact it in Australia, the UK and many other nations before the next financial crash.

Glass-Steagall is an urgent necessity; the BRI is a wonderful opportunity. Demand our political leaders pursue Australia’s independent national interest and embrace these policies that will protect and rebuild our economy.

Click here for a free copy of the CEC’s full-colour pamphlet, The World Land Bridge: Peace on Earth, Good Will towards All Men, which details the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative for Australia and the world.

Click here to join the CEC as a member.

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