His prime ministership saw relations fall to an between the two countries,full of undiplomatic language,insults and even references to war.
Under Scott Morrison’s prime ministership Australia’s relations with China reached a new low.AP
Similarly,50 years ago,during the prime ministership of Billy McMahon,relations were at a significantly low ebb. Equally,the relationship seemed set for a real change,as is the case today,with Penny Wong headed to Beijing on an official visit,the first contact at an official level between the two countries in years.
The same dramatic change in the relationship was about to occur when,even before he became prime minister. On his return,McMahon famously sneered that Whitlam had been played like a trout by Zhou Enlai.
What McMahon did not know was that Henry Kissinger would make the same official trip to China a mere four days later. No mention of him being played like a trout. Kissinger was there to prepare the way for then president Richard Nixon and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. One in the eye for McMahon. And one up for Whitlam. One of the first things Whitlam did as prime minister was to recognise the People’s Republic of China.
Until the Nixon visit,the US was represented in China by a liaison office headed by George Bush senior,who would go on to become chief of the CIA.
Australian prime minister William McMahon was unaware that Henry Kissinger had also planned a trip to China to pave the way to establish relations.UPI
The dramatic change in the early ’70s was eventually to lead to the most dramatic transformation of a country in history. The seminal year was 1976,the first full year of my time as correspondent in Beijing,ostensibly to report on the lives of one-fifth of the world’s population.
The Cultural Revolution was in its dying days;Mao Zedong was still alive – just;the country was dirt poor and isolated from the rest of the world;there were few cars,only bicycles and donkey carts on the streets;and politics consisted of campaigns such as the “criticise Confucius,criticise Lin Biao” absurdity. Poor Lin,once seen as Mao’s successor,died an unfortunate death in a mysterious plane crash.
But in 1976 things began to happen. The old boys started to die off,beginning with Zhou Enlai and,of course,Mao Zedong. Mao’s death was preceded by a massive earthquake which to the Chinese presaged a change of dynasty. The Gang of Four,led by the hated Jiang Qing,Mao’s widow,dedicated to maintaining the “purity” of the revolution,were arrested and tried. She committed suicide in jail.
Above all,pragmatist Deng Xiaoping was brought back from his latest stint in exile and proceeded to promise things would improve. The barefoot doctors,he said,should progress to straw shoes. His message to the so-called masses was greed is good and to get rich is glorious. The Chinese took it to heart,and being smart and entrepreneurial people they went for it in their millions. Many millions were taken out of poverty.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong boarding a plane to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.Alex Ellinghausen
Certainly,many became filthy and dubiously rich and corruption abounded,but the country was transformed. No longer isolated,it grew despite many setbacks to become the rich,powerful and often threatening country it is today – a rival to the US itself.
It would have been impossible to foresee this amazing transformation in 1976. The future as we know is impossible to foretell. But we should always be prepared for unexpected change. Hopefully,following the Wong visit to China,there will be a shift for the better in our relations with the superpower that is our neighbour.
Yvonne Preston was China correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald from 1975 to 1978.
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