Chinese media hails new relationship with Aus

China's state media today noted the warming of bilateral ties with Australia and a strategic shift in Canberra's defence posture that no longer views Beijing as a potential military threat.
The new defence posture outlined in the just released 2013 Defence White Paper by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was highlighted prominently by Chinese state media.
The posture taken in the 2013 Defence White Paper backtracks on former prime minister Kevin Rudd's 2009 paper, which agonised over China's long-term strategic ambitions, a commentary by state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The 2009 Defence White Paper was seen as a diplomatic and strategic disaster, with its obsession with China's "pace, scope and structure" of military development.

However, the 2013 paper reveals a far more sober assessment of the region's strategic footing, Xinhua said.
Canberra's new posture, regarded as a major plus for Beijing comes at a time when the US has stepped up its engagement in Asia Pacific with its new Asia Pivot policy where it plans to deploy over 60 per cent of its military assets in the region, which China sees as a major security threat.

Australia's change of strategic perception comes at a time when China has become the engine of its growth emerging as the destination for about a quarter of its exports.

China-Australia bilateral trade amounting to USD 120 billion mainly comprises exports of coal and iron ore that have powered China's economic growth in recent years.
Last month, both countries signed a landmark currency deal that allows the Australian dollar and Chinese yuan to be directly converted for the first time - eliminating the need for companies and currency traders to translate into US dollars first.
Besides striking the currency deals, Gillard during her recent visit here signed several other lucrative agreements worth about USD three billion including investment agreements for developing mines and wind farms.
Commenting on Australia's new paper, defence analyst Paul Dibb said the new policy was a vast step forward after the "clumsy, often hostile approach of the 2009 version".

Dibb told Xinhua that it was obvious Australia did not regard China as an adversary and focused instead on the importance of working with regional players from Indonesia to India.
Australia had noted and shifted its defence posture to include the economic, strategic and military shift to the Indo-Pacific, Australian Defence Force's operational drawdown from Afghanistan, Timor Leste and Solomon Islands; the United States' re-balance to the Asia-Pacific.
"The biggest risk is not that China becomes a direct threat to Australia but that the erosion of American power unleashes strategic competition among Asia's strongest states, which in turn increases the risk that Australia could face a number of military threats to its interests, even its territorial security," said Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at Australian National University.