barryqwalsh
Gold Member
- Sep 30, 2014
- 3,397
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Boris Johnson is certainly a force of nature, an almost unique combination of wit, writer and politician. Built somewhat low to the ground, and possessing a certain, solid quality, if it is not disrespectful to speak of the distinguished British Foreign Secretary thus, he looks something like a blond British wombat caught in a perpetual storm of his own making.
But there I go making a characteristic journalistic mistake, getting carried away with the charm and wit and fun of the Foreign Secretary, and not paying enough attention to the substance of the many messages he brings.
It ought not to be considered a crime against humanity to be a politician who is able to see the joke in things, and to possess both some wit and a self-deprecating sense of humour.
As Foreign Secretary, Johnson remains a Big Beast of the Conservative Party, a real chance to become prime minister. In the meantime he is a powerful advocate for his country and for defining a new foreign policy for Britain as it leaves the EU.
Johnson is an internationalist. He gives the lie to the idea that Brexit is an exercise in British isolationism, a retreat from the world. His outward-looking, cosmopolitan approach to Brexit and Britain’s international role offers real opportunities for Australia.
In the course of a long discussion yesterday, Johnson outlined a new set of priorities that ought to be music to Canberra’s ears.
“One of the purposes of my trip is to get over the message that we are now going to be more committed to the Asia-Pacific region and more committed to Australia.”
Johnson is enthusiastic about an early free trade deal between Britain and Australia. Such a deal could come into force almost the day after Britain leaves the EU. His globalist rhetoric is worth recording at a little length. This is not just a message he reserves for foreigners but reflects the things he said all through the Brexit campaign. But first, he cites Australia as an example of why Britain made the right decision to leave the EU: “Just imagine if APEC had a court and a parliament and a currency and a tendency to have a treaty every five years causing ever greater integration, would Australia sign up to that? Has Australia suffered from the lack of that? It’s fantastic to see the success of this country. It’s a repudiation of some of the gloom-mongering.”
Johnson makes the point that he has made so often before. Britain is leaving the EU but not leaving Europe. It expects and wants a continuing, close relationship with its European partners in security, trade, right across the board.
Nonetheless, Johnson continues, Brexit “gives us the chance to think afresh about commercial opportunities and about the (Asian) region. One of the things I find everywhere I go is that people want more Britain, not less Britain. They want a Britain that is more engaged, not less engaged. When I talk about global Britain they genuinely see the point. This (Asia) is an area of fantastic growth. It’s also an area of tension. People want the involvement of a country that sticks up for a rules-based international system, that is prepared to deploy its military in the area, as we are.”
The formal purpose of Johnson’s visit is the annual AUKMIN talks, which will involve his good friend, Julie Bishop, and the two countries’ defence ministers, Michael Fallon and Marise Payne. The Cameron and May governments have been infinitely more committed to the AUKMIN process than the Brown and Blair governments were before them, although AUKMIN began under Tony Blair and John Howard.
AUKMIN will cover all the security issues. Top of the line is an intimate partnership in responding to cybersecurity threats. But also there is the British bid to supply Australia’s proposed nine new frigates, and Johnson waxes eloquent in his nation’s interests on this. Naturally the deep co-operation in counter-terrorism and the role of both nations as the two most intimate allies of the US will also be centre stage.
It has been an object of Australian policy for some time to get Britain more active in Asia. In the past there was also some feeling that British governments had a tendency to be a bit mealy-mouthed about China.
On the South China Sea, Johnson could not be more forthright. The specific issue is Beijing’s rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China’s actions in the South China Sea, in claiming various reefs and rocks and building artificial structures on them, had no justification in international law and had transgressed the rights of other nations.
“We take no position on the merits of the case,” Johnson says. However, the criticism of Beijing’s actions is very direct. Johnson says: “But it is absolutely clear that the UNCLOS ruling must be abided by. The law of the sea is there to be honoured. What people need is certainty and stability. We believe that legal certainty in the South China Sea is hugely important. We don’t want to see the militarisation of that area. We believe that for world trade to prosper there must be a fairness about the way sea lanes are going to operate.”
That position is nearly identical to Australia’s and there is a clarity to Johnson’s expression. He is a strong believer in the US alliance system, which he defends on principle as well as on practical grounds. In a highly fissiparous and unpredictable world, where global politics has never seemed more uncertain, it is a serious national interest of Australia’s that Johnson’s view of Britain, and its place in the world, prevails.
Although Johnson denies it, the equivocal election result diminishes or at least complicates London’s negotiating position for Brexit. But there is no doubt what is in Australia’s interests. That is for a clear and clean Brexit, crisply achieved, to be followed by a confident Britain providing its traditional quotient and more of global leadership. And if Johnson is at or near the top of British politics, so much the better, as we will find the whole process not only salutary but entertaining as well.
Greg Sheridan - The Australian
But there I go making a characteristic journalistic mistake, getting carried away with the charm and wit and fun of the Foreign Secretary, and not paying enough attention to the substance of the many messages he brings.
It ought not to be considered a crime against humanity to be a politician who is able to see the joke in things, and to possess both some wit and a self-deprecating sense of humour.
As Foreign Secretary, Johnson remains a Big Beast of the Conservative Party, a real chance to become prime minister. In the meantime he is a powerful advocate for his country and for defining a new foreign policy for Britain as it leaves the EU.
Johnson is an internationalist. He gives the lie to the idea that Brexit is an exercise in British isolationism, a retreat from the world. His outward-looking, cosmopolitan approach to Brexit and Britain’s international role offers real opportunities for Australia.
In the course of a long discussion yesterday, Johnson outlined a new set of priorities that ought to be music to Canberra’s ears.
“One of the purposes of my trip is to get over the message that we are now going to be more committed to the Asia-Pacific region and more committed to Australia.”
Johnson is enthusiastic about an early free trade deal between Britain and Australia. Such a deal could come into force almost the day after Britain leaves the EU. His globalist rhetoric is worth recording at a little length. This is not just a message he reserves for foreigners but reflects the things he said all through the Brexit campaign. But first, he cites Australia as an example of why Britain made the right decision to leave the EU: “Just imagine if APEC had a court and a parliament and a currency and a tendency to have a treaty every five years causing ever greater integration, would Australia sign up to that? Has Australia suffered from the lack of that? It’s fantastic to see the success of this country. It’s a repudiation of some of the gloom-mongering.”
Johnson makes the point that he has made so often before. Britain is leaving the EU but not leaving Europe. It expects and wants a continuing, close relationship with its European partners in security, trade, right across the board.
Nonetheless, Johnson continues, Brexit “gives us the chance to think afresh about commercial opportunities and about the (Asian) region. One of the things I find everywhere I go is that people want more Britain, not less Britain. They want a Britain that is more engaged, not less engaged. When I talk about global Britain they genuinely see the point. This (Asia) is an area of fantastic growth. It’s also an area of tension. People want the involvement of a country that sticks up for a rules-based international system, that is prepared to deploy its military in the area, as we are.”
The formal purpose of Johnson’s visit is the annual AUKMIN talks, which will involve his good friend, Julie Bishop, and the two countries’ defence ministers, Michael Fallon and Marise Payne. The Cameron and May governments have been infinitely more committed to the AUKMIN process than the Brown and Blair governments were before them, although AUKMIN began under Tony Blair and John Howard.
AUKMIN will cover all the security issues. Top of the line is an intimate partnership in responding to cybersecurity threats. But also there is the British bid to supply Australia’s proposed nine new frigates, and Johnson waxes eloquent in his nation’s interests on this. Naturally the deep co-operation in counter-terrorism and the role of both nations as the two most intimate allies of the US will also be centre stage.
It has been an object of Australian policy for some time to get Britain more active in Asia. In the past there was also some feeling that British governments had a tendency to be a bit mealy-mouthed about China.
On the South China Sea, Johnson could not be more forthright. The specific issue is Beijing’s rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China’s actions in the South China Sea, in claiming various reefs and rocks and building artificial structures on them, had no justification in international law and had transgressed the rights of other nations.
“We take no position on the merits of the case,” Johnson says. However, the criticism of Beijing’s actions is very direct. Johnson says: “But it is absolutely clear that the UNCLOS ruling must be abided by. The law of the sea is there to be honoured. What people need is certainty and stability. We believe that legal certainty in the South China Sea is hugely important. We don’t want to see the militarisation of that area. We believe that for world trade to prosper there must be a fairness about the way sea lanes are going to operate.”
That position is nearly identical to Australia’s and there is a clarity to Johnson’s expression. He is a strong believer in the US alliance system, which he defends on principle as well as on practical grounds. In a highly fissiparous and unpredictable world, where global politics has never seemed more uncertain, it is a serious national interest of Australia’s that Johnson’s view of Britain, and its place in the world, prevails.
Although Johnson denies it, the equivocal election result diminishes or at least complicates London’s negotiating position for Brexit. But there is no doubt what is in Australia’s interests. That is for a clear and clean Brexit, crisply achieved, to be followed by a confident Britain providing its traditional quotient and more of global leadership. And if Johnson is at or near the top of British politics, so much the better, as we will find the whole process not only salutary but entertaining as well.
Greg Sheridan - The Australian
