ONE senior Chinese told me Kevin Rudd tried to use the Chinese leadership style in Australia. Right style, wrong country. That's why he was deposed.
In the recent federal election, Australia's interaction with the world barely figured in the political debate. With a relatively pitiful 23 million people, domestic policy has an unsustainable future without being fed by global trade and investment.
And global currents are changing. Global growth is coming from developing, not developed, countries. How do we pilot these new waters? We're not prepared.
Understand one thing about China. With more than 1.3 billion people, China cares only about China.
With 1.2 billion people, no one-child policy, and 60 per cent of the population under the age of 25, India thinks only of India.
Civil conflict is prevented only via continued economic growth.
Both countries are giants awakening. When they stand, the world will shake.
Western global institutions will be increasingly bypassed or infiltrated. In many parts of the world, such as Africa, the hybrid China model will be favoured as it creates more wealth. The elite in Asia sees its rise as a long-awaited return to influence rather than something new. And doing business in Asia is different to doing business in Australia. A rich Asian friend once roguishly told me: "Show me a rich Asian and I'll show you a thief."
