風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
John Menadue
https://johnmenadue.com/precis/?
John Menadue has had a senior professional career in the media, public service and airlines.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1985 for public service. In 1997, he received the Japanese Imperial Award, The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Kun-itto Zuiho-sho), the highest honour awarded to foreigners who are not head of state or head of government. The award was for services to the Australia-Japan relationship, particularly the establishment of the working holiday program between the two countries. In 2003 he was awarded the Centenary Medal ‘for service to Australian society through public service leadership’.
澳前駐聯合國官員質問“為何針對中國”
海外網 2020.12.0219:05
圖為澳總理內閣部前主管約翰·梅納杜（John Menadue）創立的政策博客
海外網12月2日電 澳大利亞前駐聯合國官員卡文·霍格（Cavan Hogue）12月2日在澳媒上以《大象和老鼠》（The elephant and the mouse）為題發表評論文章指出，與中國發生爭端，澳大利亞一定會輸。可以預見的是，澳大利亞的政客和媒體會表現出歇斯底裏的狂熱，美國和英國公開站隊澳大利亞足以說明，澳大利亞的主權實際上已經被背後操控。
文章摘編如下：
與中國發生爭端，澳大利亞一定會輸，不管我們對此有再多批評聲音也不能改變事實。必須改變衝動的強硬外交政策轉而冷靜麵對事實，澳大利亞需要思考的是，為什麽會與中國產生摩擦？澳大利亞現在應該怎麽辦？
對於中國外交部發言人推特發布的有關內容，大家想必可能隻會當做卡通漫畫，而不是自我評斷內容的真實性。可以預見的是，澳大利亞的政客和媒體會表現出歇斯底裏的狂熱，他們叫囂捍衛主權，但並沒有說明將如何捍衛。美國和英國公開站隊澳大利亞足以說明，澳大利亞的主權實際上已經被背後操控。
正如很多人所指出的那樣，在與中國的任何衝突中，澳大利亞都將不可避免成為失敗者，我們或許不能接受，但是更也不能蒙起頭來對此視而不見。
澳大利亞一直以來毫無必要地排擠中國，從失去理智地嚐試開始，試圖通過調查新冠病毒的起源來取悅美國政府，這些已經眾所周知。除此之外，澳大利亞還實施了一係列明顯針對中國和中國公司的所謂“國家安全”措施，還對中國香港、新疆等問題采取強硬態度，卻選擇性忽視其它國家存在的問題。
為什麽澳大利亞要針對中國？美國隻會口頭上支持澳大利亞，繼續鼓吹澳大利亞支持美國幹涉中國事務，僅此而已。
太多的澳大利亞記者和政客並不了解澳大利亞以外的世界，我更希望讓更有資格的人來評判中澳關係。你真的認為中國會在意澳大利亞嗎？如果我是中國人，我不會把來自澳大利亞的批評當回事，而且看起來中國人確實不在意。我曾經在大學裏跨文化傳播學院授課，其中基本課程內容就是，無論你是否接受，你都必須了解其它文化，而不是根據自己的文化來理解別人所說的話或者所做的事。
我們應該怎麽做？我們如何做會對中國產生影響？中國如何看待中澳關係？一味指責中國毫無意義，澳大利亞不要自欺欺人，因為澳大利亞需要中國和中國需要澳大利亞一樣。我們需要更加了解中國、更加冷靜地麵對現實，而不是無腦捶胸頓足；我們不應該衝動，所需要的是理性思維。（海外網 朱惠悅）
The elephant and the mouse
China’s Twitter photoshop was presumably seen by the Chinese as a cartoon rather than pretending it was real. Whether it was any worse than Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon about the Prophet Mohammed is a moot point but both were in very bad taste and had a negative effect on those the cartoon satirised.
Australian politicians and media have responded predictably with domestically oriented hysteria about bullying and how we will stand up to protect our sovereignty. Just how we will do this is not stated. Public support from the US and UK can only suggest that our sovereignty has already been handed over to others.
As a number of people have pointed out, Australia will inevitably be the loser in any conflict with China. We may not like this but we cannot pretend otherwise.
There is much to be criticised about China today but Australia has gone out of its way to unnecessarily annoy China. We started it with our ill-advised attempt to please Donald Trump by calling for an investigation into the origin of the COVID virus – something that was already known. We have also implemented a number of “national security” measures clearly directed against China and Chinese firms. We have harped on Chinese actions against Hong Kong and Xin Jiang but ignored equally bad actions by other countries.
Why focus on China? This is not to defend things China is doing that I and many others don’t like but did we really think China was going to take any notice of us? There are various versions of the perhaps apocryphal newspaper headline:” The Launceston Examiner warns Mr Hitler” and a similar one about the Kaiser but the message is relevant. The USA will support us verbally and encourage us to support American attempts to turn back the Chinese tide but that is all.
Unlike far too many journalists and politicians with little knowledge of the world outside Australia, I leave it to others better qualified to analyse Chinese motives and possible avenues of reconciliation. The only thing that seems important and obvious to me is China’s humiliation at the hands of those who now criticise its human rights record.
If I were Chinese, I would not take these criticisms seriously and it looks like the Chinese don’t. I used to teach University courses in Intercultural Communication where one of the basic lessons is that, like it or not, you must understand the culture of the others and not interpret what they say or do in terms of your own culture. Far too many commentators on China would have failed the course.
The basic problem then is clear. What are we going to do about it? What can we do that will have any effect on China? What are their aims? It is no use blaming China and telling them they are wrong because they don’t seem to care. Nor should we kid ourselves that they need us as much as we need them.
Yes, it would be nice if China tried to understand us and our culture but powerful empires are not noted for being kind to the weak. Perhaps China is a bully but bullies succeed if they are more powerful than the bullied and China is much more powerful than us. I don’t pretend to have the answers but we need realistic analysis from Australians who understand China and less mindless chest-thumping.
We need less hot air and more cold reason.
