CHINA-AUSTRALIA | Relationships

Next week I'm involved in supporting the facilitator of a meeting of Australian and Chinese thought leaders. We are meeting to discuss a pathway to lobby Australian government to mitigate the racist, xenophobic and McCarthy 'reds under the bed' style of approach of some members of the Australian senate, towards Australia-China bilateral trade relationships. This comes on the back of China putting a stop to Australian imports into China, with no thanks to Trump-like behavior from some members of the Australian senate. A behaviour that has deeply offended China and virtually destroyed the bilateral relationship. This behaviour by the Australian Senate is unconstitutional, undemocratic, does not represent the will of the people and is a breach of human rights. As a consequence many exports have stopped. The public is neither seeing or hearing the truth about what is happening, with no thanks to some of the Australian media organisations owned by corporations that commercially benefit from xenophobic sensationalism and racist conflicts. Yes, for the record, I am calling some of the media racist. A former General Manager for NewstalkZB, the leading commercial radio talk brand in New Zealand, I am trained to know this. China trade is so fundamental to Australia, that if we simply stop export and trade with China, the Australian economy will head into recession. The impact is that massive. This impact is human. The lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders will be impacted by the loss of work and income. I understand that much of the caucasian bias that exists against China is due to poor education and insight. Old viewpoints, out of date and irrelevant to what is happening today. In reality, regular folk frequently receive second hand information, and this is often prejudiced. I think it is time that western business people could access insights and information from the movers and shakers who are directly involved day to day with cross cultural relations with China. I am stepping up my work as a former commercial media company general manager, to lend my media skills to assist all of the important communicators involved in cross cultural understanding to have their say. Their voices will be shared through RED CIRCLE TALKS PODCASTS (soon to be launched), so that western and eastern people can access the true understanding of what is really happening from the people actually doing it. Ultimately, in a globalised world that is now heading out into space to mine the resources of our solar system, there is a fundamental need to look beyond nationalism and to see ourselves as a collective-humanity, working together for a common purpose. A better life for all people. Feudalism and territorial colonialist nationalism are advents of the past that needs to stay in the past. It is no longer acceptable to live by the precept of hate your neighbor. We are better, together if we love our neighbour as ourselves. If the truth about EAST-WEST matters to you, then connect to the free resources from thought leaders on my website. And don't worry about this short-term thinking by politicians who are simply creating conflicts to position their careers. The Silk Road Trade Route has survived thousands of years of conflicts between people who preferred war, because they lacked the intelligence to communicate effectively. The Belt and Road Initiative has a Digital Silk Road aspect to how we apply our intelligence to open commercial trade routes through mutually beneficial collaborative technologies. For the first time, the world is connecting at scale. Did we imagine this would go easily? Across disparate languages, systems and cultures? Connecting to things that are different to us requires patience and understanding, we are engineering digital and physical pathways to MUTUAL VALUE through understanding. Let's pursue and share understanding. Glyn MacLean Managing Director

Red Circle Network