China’s Rise in Australia: reframing the relationship

AIIA WA, in partnership with the Confucius Institute of UWA, invite you to the University Club to hear from Tao Xie, James Laurenceson, and Mark Beeson, on Australia-China relations.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972, the Australia China relationship has expanded to encompass economic, cultural, educational, person to person and geopolitical interactions.

The recent rise of nationalism and populism in the Western world has impacted how these connections are viewed, casting China’s rise in Australia as a threat. As politicians, academics and business people grapple with the complexity of the relationship, forums of transcultural discussion have never been more important.

This instalment of China in Conversation is also the keynote presentation for the Australia China Transcultural Studies (ACTS) Symposium, this year held at UWA. Our panel of experts bring decades of research to this conversation, providing a level of nuance which is essential for understanding the multifaceted engagement between Australia and China. Is it time to redraw the relationship? Will this help to pave the road to ongoing mutual benefit? We hope you can join us for an evening of transcultural discourse and lively discussion.

About the speakers

Tao XIE is professor of political science and associate dean at the School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University. He holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University (2007). His research interests include U.S. Congress, public opinion, U.S.-China relations, and Chinese foreign policy. Along with several journal articles, he is also the author of U.S.-China Relations: China Policy on Capitol Hill (Routledge 2009) and Living with the Dragon: How the American Public Views the Rise of China (with Benjamin I. Page, Columbia University Press, 2010).

James Laurenceson is Deputy Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at UTS. He has previously held appointments at the University of Queensland, Shandong University and Shimonoseki City University. He was President of the Chinese Economics Society of Australia from 2012-2014. His work focuses on contemporary Chinese economic developments and the Australia-China economic relationship. His writing has been published in leading scholarly journals and media outlets including the China Economic Review, China Economic Journal, Australian Financial Review, South China Morning Post and the China Daily.

Mark Beeson is Professor of International Politics at the University of Western Australia. Before re-joining UWA in 2015, he taught at Murdoch, Griffith, Queensland, York (UK) and Birmingham. He has also had visiting positions in the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and Hong Kong. His is the author or editor of 19 books, focusing on the politics, economics and security of the broadly conceived Asia-Pacific region. He is currently the Research Chair of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and a member of the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts.

To register for this free event please click here.