Publication Type
Transcript
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
6-2023
Abstract
The historic visit of Mr Gough WHITLAM, then Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Federal Parliament, to Beijing in 1971 led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and the People’s Republic China in 1972.* Fifty years on, China is now Australia’s largest two-way trading partner in goods and services. This accounts for 32.2 percent of Australia’s trade with the world.1 The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) highlights that two-way trade between Australia and China, totalling $267 billion, grew 6.3 per cent in 2020–21.2 This is despite the COVID-19 pandemic, border shutdowns and China’s trade-restrictive measures.3 Moreover, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia was one of the most popular destinations for Chinese students and tourists. Ironically, notwithstanding trade growth between the two countries, tensions continue to arise on issues ranging from national security (eg, Australia’s ban on Huawei’s inclusion in Australia’s 5G network)5 to the inquiry on the origin of COVID-19.6 Further, the Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue has not been held since 2017 and was “indefinitely suspended” by the Chinese Government in 2021.7 Meanwhile, the Chinese icebreaker MV Xue Long, that used to call in to Hobart, Tasmania (its major supply hub) on its way to Antarctica, was last seen in Australia in 2019. Following the change of the Australian Federal Government in 2022, cautious optimism surrounds the potential to reset the bilateral relationship between Australia and China. It was against this backdrop that the ‘Australia-China Joint Workshop on Biodiversity Law and Governance: Towards a World Living in Harmony with Nature by 2050’ (‘Joint Workshop’) was held in June 2022, funded by Australia’s National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.
Discipline
Environmental Law
Research Areas
Public Interest Law, Community and Social Justice
Publication
Chinese Journal of Environmental Law
Volume
7
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
7
ISSN
2468-6034
Identifier
10.1163/24686042-12340093
Publisher
Brill
Citation
LIU, Nengye; LIU, Nengye; and LIM, Michelle Mei Ling.
Introduction to the special issue: Strengthening Australia–China biodiversity dialogue in a changing world. (2023). Chinese Journal of Environmental Law. 7, (1), 1-7.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4710
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1163/24686042-12340093