From The Financial Times (link):
China’s authoritarian political system and liberalised economy are unsustainable in the long term, but Australia needs to cultivate bilateral relations because of the vast trading benefits, according to John Howard, the Australian prime minister.
In an interview with the Financial Times to mark his 10th anniversary as prime minister, John Howard brushed aside security concerns over China aired in the US and said that he would openly engage with Beijing although the country “makes a lot of people nervous.”
China is importing billions of dollars worth of Australian resources such as iron ore to underpin its industrialisation and the countries are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement.
Seed also: Transcript of interview with John Howard (Part I) (Part II).
