University leaders ‘sided against us’ on China: Turnbull

Australian vice-chancellors behaved like sycophantic shop attendants and recited Chinese Communist Party “talking points” when tensions between Canberra and Beijing began to escalate, according to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull told a La Trobe University webinar that Australia’s business community had “tended to side with China” when, as prime minister, he found himself “at odds” with the East Asian giant. “Vice-chancellors in particular decided to side with China,” he said.

“Now, happily, people have worked out that…that was doing the Communist Party’s work for them. It’s like the shopping scene in Pretty Woman. Start getting into one bit of sucking up, and then more sucking up…will be required.”

In a discussion about “the challenge of China”, also featuring earlier prime minister Kevin Rudd, Mr Turnbull said a “distinguished vice-chancellor of Sydney University” had “berated me for Sinophobic blathering”.

“He basically had the same talking points as [nationalist Chinese tabloid] the Global Times,” Mr Turnbull said.

The comments by former Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence, reported in early 2018 by the Australian Financial Review, were blamed for exacerbating the deterioration of relations between universities and Canberra as the Turnbull government rolled out policies to counter perceived security threats from China.

The comments reportedly enraged Mr Turnbull, who has two grandchildren with Chinese heritage. “[They] call me yeye, which is Chinese for paternal grandfather,” he told the webinar.

He said that universities and the government alike must stick to their principles in dealing with China. “When you are the prime minister of a middle power like Australia in the imperial capital, whether it is Beijing or Washington, they regard deference as their due. And the only way to be respected is to stand your ground.”

Mr Turnbull predicted a recovery of Australia’s international enrolments, saying he expected the number of Chinese students in Australia to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. “We’ve just got to be firm in our position and don’t get involved in rhetorical overreach,” he said.

“Play a straight bat. Don’t retaliate when you get crazy over-the-top things said, whether it’s by diplomats or in Chinese media. Just ignore it. Bat it away and be calm.”

Mr Rudd, who served as an Australian diplomat in Beijing before entering politics, accused current prime minister Scott Morrison and defence minister Peter Dutton of using the “rhetorical overdrive stick” by exploiting anxiety about China for political purposes.

“When you…start to crank up fear of China in the domestic Australian political debate, you take a problem which is already five out of 10 in intensity and turn it into an eight out of 10 problem,” Mr Rudd told the forum.

Mr Turnbull agreed. “When people start using China…as a domestic chest-beating issue to show how tough you are, that is short sighted and absolutely contrary to Australia’s national interest,” he said.

“Some of this political rhetoric, if played for the local right-wing media peanut gallery, can actually undermine something that is very precious – which is the success of our multicultural society.”

But he said blame for the “poor state of relations”, which is apparent in China’s threats to education and other exports, was “overwhelmingly on the side of Beijing”.

“There is a concerted effort to make an example of Australia and to come down hard on us to make us more compliant,” he told the webinar. “It has completely and utterly backfired.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com