Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke at the British think tank Policy Exchange on Nov. 23, where it released the group’s report “A Very British Tilt: Towards a New U.K. Strategy in the Indo-Pacific Region.” (https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/A-Very-British-Tilt.pdf)
Interestingly, Global Times today takes note of what they call Morison’s “softer” tone towards China in his speech, writing that he “offered an olive branch to China amid the White House power transition, which pundits regard as opportunistic behavior under domestic economic pressure and adjustment of the nation’s China policy.” They report that Morrison said Australia “should not have to pick a side between its alliance with the U.S. and a `mutually beneficial relationship’ with China, explaining that Australia’s actions were wrongly interpreted by Beijing as they were not part of the U.S. strategy to contain China. Morrison even acknowledged China’s achievements in economic growth and poverty alleviation, after all 832 national-level poor counties were lifted out of poverty as of Monday, which was an `olive branch’ unlike from his previous hardline stance, observers said.”
