Op-Ed: Standing up to bullies the Clinton way

Former US president Bill Clinton drops into North Korea in a blitz and secures the release of some American journalists who were imprisoned by that creepy regime.

He flies in, works his magic and before you can say ‘Hail to our Beloved Leader’ he’s on his way back on the same plane as the released journalists. By contrast the efforts shown on the part of the Australian government in the recent furore over China detaining Australian executives of the mining giant Rio Tinto pale into insignificance. The Chinese played the Aussies for saps and we just rolled over and took it. Apparently, for a while in the beginning of the crisis, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith was reduced to gathering his information from various websites as the Chinese junta completely ignored the usual diplomatic nicety of keeping the other party in a conflict informed using the standard communication channels. Of course Australia’s economic interests are closely allied to Chinese growth and no one likes to rock the boat when it comes to a highly important stream of income. After all, the Chinese economy needs our commodities and we depend on that interaction to a large degree. And Australia has not got the clout that the US can bring to the fore. And, I suppose North Korea is not quite on the same level as China. But I can’t help thinking that Clinton’s action just portrayed a boldness and a confidence that is sadly lacking in our own government over the Rio Tinto arrests. Our Prime Minister never shuts up about the fact that he speaks fluent Mandarin. So, let him go and have a chat with his Chinese counterpart to see if he can, ever so politely of course, ask if he wouldn’t mind releasing the Australians in captivity.