E&OE
25 March 2009, Ju Yuan Fraternity Hospital construction site, Ju Yuan Township, Sichuan Province
Doorstop Interview
STEPHEN SMITH: Well thanks very much for turning up. I’m very pleased to be here to make a further contribution to the reconstruction efforts following the earthquake. Australia and Australians have responded very warmly and very generously to the terrible humanitarian crisis that we saw in the aftermath of the earthquake. All up, Australians have contributed through governments or individually over A$11 million to help. So it’s a reflection, I think, of the fact that Australians want to be good international citizens when they see people in distress. It also reflects the strength of the relationship between Australia and China. I’ve been pleased to announce a further contribution today of $275,000. So it’s good to be able to make that further contribution. It’s good to be able to play a small part in the reconstruction efforts in what has been a terrible humanitarian disaster.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you’ve been meeting with some of the Party officials here in Sichuan. What have they told you about the progress of the rebuilding of the Province?
SMITH: Well, I met with the Party Secretary last night for a formal bilateral meeting and then dinner. And the growing relationship between Australia and China was obviously there for discussion, as well as the growing potential for a relationship between Australia and Sichuan Province. The Party Secretary went through the reconstruction. First, he went through the responses on the day, and its quite clear that we saw a tremendous effort by the authorities, by the civilian authorities, by the military, but also by thousands of volunteers to render assistance on the day, to prevent follow-on epidemics, and then to start the reconstruction efforts. And the Party Secretary was pleased with progress to date, but understands there’s a long way to go. But also very pleased and very grateful for the assistance that Australia and Australians have rendered.
JOUNRALIST: And indeed the Governor of the Province made some comments a few weeks ago at the National People’s Congress that in fact there wasn’t enough money so far allocated to the rebuilding, was that expressed to you as well?
SMITH: Well, the Party Secretary made the point that we’re pleased with progress to date but there is a long way to go. I indicated that Australia is contemplating a modest further contribution and he was pleased by that. When you have large scale reconstruction, there’s always more that you can do. But if you, for example, look at the destruction of the hospital that was here, the fact that they’re looking at getting a new hospital up and running by June-July this year is a pretty good effort. There’s always more that you can do, but this has been a human tragedy on a scale rarely seen, so the response to that, the response by China, the response by the international community to render assistance, has been, I think, a first class effort.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned just now Australia’s growing skills in managing emergencies when they first happen. Has there been any receptiveness from the officials you met in terms of passing some of that knowledge on, particularly in the volunteer sort of area?
SMITH: Now, one of the things that we have discussed, not just with China but more generally, is regrettably, in our region, the Asia-Pacific region, in recent times we have been subject to terrible natural disasters with terrible human consequences – the earthquake here, the cyclone in Burma - cyclone Nargis in Myanmar - the tsunami. That’s caused us to look at how we respond to disasters, how we respond to disaster relief but also how we coordinate. The earthquake here showed that even for a country as large and as strong as China, often in the face of these human tragedies, in these natural disasters you need the assistance of the international community. So, getting better coordination, getting better understanding of protocols and administrative arrangements is what we’ve been discussing, not just with China but with the ASEAN countries, for example. And sharing that expertise across the non-government sector as well through the Red Cross and the other agencies that help. That’s also been a very important part of the process. And regrettably, one thing we do know is these natural tragedies will occur from time to time and the better prepared we are in advance the better off the response will be.
JOURNALIST: Sorry but just to come back to that question, was there a receptiveness from the officials here to pass on knowledge from Australia to deal with this?
SMITH: Yes, absolutely. I mean, this is an area where we can all learn from each other. So that notion of sharing expertise, sharing information, sharing knowledge, sharing experiences - a very open and warm reception to that.
JOURNALIST: And the other thing I was going to ask, I don’t know if you’ve seen any evidence of this, that there was a blooming of volunteerism that you’ve mentioned after the earthquake here. We’ve heard reports that that’s sort of starting to die off and those organisations are beginning to wither away. Was that discussed?
SMITH: That wasn’t discussed. In some respects that doesn’t surprise me, there’s always in the immediate aftermath a natural human reaction, but the reaction of thousands if not millions of Chinese to voluntarily assist was, I think, frankly staggering. It’s a natural expectation that that will flow and ebb away in the aftermath rather than in the immediacy. But the discussion we had with the Party Secretary was more about the impressive nature of the voluntary response, rather than how it’s going now.
JOURNALIST: OK, this time pitching forward now, you’re visiting Beijing tomorrow and the day after. What are you planning on discussing during that meeting?
SMITH: Well I’m off to Chongqing this evening, so tomorrow I’ll see the Mayor of Chongqing and the Party Secretary. And then I fly to Beijing. The primary purpose of my visit to Beijing is for the second Strategic Dialogue between Australia and China. Foreign Minister Yang came to Australia, came to Canberra last year at about this time or a bit earlier, and we held the first Australia-China Strategic Dialogue. That reflects, I think, the development of the relationship. Australia of course, one of its predecessor governments, the Whitlam Government, gave very early recognition to China in the 1970s, in 1972. At the same time we adopted, which all Australian Governments have adhered to, the one China policy. And so that early recognition has held us in good stead. That’s been followed by a strong economic relationship, driven by minerals and petroleum resources from my own state of Western Australia. But the relationship now is much broader than that and the Strategic Dialogue reflects that. So we’ll be having the second Strategic Dialogue in Beijing on Friday. And in addition to that I’ll be seeing some of the senior Chinese leadership, Vice President Xi and Standing Committee Member Zhou - he was in Perth recently so I’ll be seeing him as well.
JOURNALIST: Is Prime Minister Rudd’s Government beginning to think of itself as one of the developed world’s sort of inside men in China? Is that a fair reflection?
SMITH: No, we are a country that is very active in its foreign policy approach. Our priorities are regional, the Asia Pacific, but our interests are global. And Asia is a very important place for us, and China is a very important part of Asia. Of course, the obvious is also true, that is we regard this century as the century of the Asia Pacific. The rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the ASEAN economies combined. So Australia’s relationship with China is very important. China’s emergence in the international community is also very important. The Prime Minister is currently in the United States. The United States’ relationship with China is a very important part of China’s emergence into the international community.
JOURNALIST: I guess what I’m asking is whether Australia feels it has more of a direct relationship with the Chinese Government than might be possible than, say, for the Americans.
SMITH: Well, we’re a relatively small country, 20 million people. Yes we’re in the top fifteen economies, but we’re not a superpower and we don’t pretend to be. And superpowers don’t need go-betweens. We have a very good relationship with China, a Strategic Dialogue, a very good partnership, and that continues to grow. We’re also an ally of the United States, and we will put our views to China just as we put our views to the United States. But it’s very important of course that the United States and China have a very good relationship and we welcome the early signs of that good relationship between the new US administration and the Chinese authorities.
JOURNALIST: I’m from China News Service, I have three questions. You’ve been in Chengdu from yesterday until today, what’s the thing that has impressed you the most?
SMITH: Well what’s impressed me the most is being in west China. I come from the west of Australia and I deliberately started my tour in the west of China at Sichuan University with the university students. But I’ve been very impressed with the vibrancy, and the economic and social strength of the west, and I think this is an area that Australia needs to become even more engaged in.
JOURNALIST: OK, so what do you think about the cooperation between Australia and the west of China?
SMITH: Well it’s good. I spoke to the Party Secretary last night. We had a good meeting, a good, productive meeting and then an enjoyable and productive dinner. But things can always improve. One of the things that the Party Secretary and I would like to encourage for example is greater tourism, more Australians coming to Sichuan Province for tourism purposes . But also, greater economic relationships and greater investment relationships. There is a large number of Australian companies here already, not just working on reconstruction efforts following from the earthquake, but also more generally, but we think there is a lot more potential for an economic relationship between Sichuan Province and Australia.
JOURNALIST: OK and what cooperation do you think should take place between China and Australia?
SMITH: The cooperation is very good. Australia and China have a very strong partnership. We work very well together. We’re working very closely, for example, as members of the G20 in the face of the global financial crisis. And we are countries where we have a significant number of high level visits. My visit to China this week is followed by my colleague the Trade Minister and also my colleague the Resources and Energy Minister. And we have seen in recent times also high level visits by the Chinese leadership to Australia. So the relationship is very good, and both Australia and China want to continue what is a very vibrant partnership.
[ENDS]
Media inquiries
Foreign Minister's office (02) 6277 7500