Insights | Australian sinologist: 'China Collapse Theory' and 'China Threat Theory' nonsense

By Zhaoli, Wu Xinru

(ECNS) -- "China Collapse Theory" and "China Threat Theory" are nonsense, and when we have these things that imply it's a threat, that's very bad, said Colin Mackerras, a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a world-renowned sinologist, to China News Network on the International Forum on the History and Future of Xinjiang, China, which is held on Wednesday in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"I think there are some challenges (faced by Australia-China relations). What I find is lacking in relations up to now especially from Australian side, is trust," said Mackerras in the interview. He pointed out that there seems to be a lot of emphasis on more trade, which is also good, but he would like to see more trust in the relationship.

In September 2021, leaders of Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership AUKUS, with which they promote group politics and bloc confrontation.

Later, the three sides signed a partnership agreement involving the U.S. and the U.K. assisting Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, a nerve-wracking decision for neighboring countries and regions.

After that, Australia also announced to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars ($3bn) to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS deal.

Mackerras criticized that AUKUS is "a great shame" as it seems to be aimed against China.

He further commented that things like nuclear power submarines against China are very expensive and very unnecessary. They're harmful to Australia. He thinks Australia should be much more steering its foreign relations towards Asia and especially China, not towards the United Kingdom and the United States.

"China isn't a threat to Australia, as far as I can see," he said. In his eyes, the "China Collapse Theory" and "China Threat Theory" are nonsense and they are extremely unlikely to happen. Behind these fallacies is a misunderstanding of China.

As a world-renowned sinologist, Colin Mackerras also expressed his pity that China studies in Australian universities are not doing particularly well. He encouraged these universities to nurture more talents who understand China better, and promote people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding between the two sides.

He noticed that there is not enough trust in ordinary Australians toward China, which he thinks is "a great shame". He suggests that tourism and scholarly exchanges are good things to promote people-to-people relations. "We need people to come to China and understand China," he concluded.