NEWS WRAP

Caught in the middle of Middle East tensions

• George Floyd's family visits Biden and Harris | President Biden and Vice President Harris welcomed the family of George Floyd to the White House on the anniversary of his death. They also met with Republican senator Tim Scott who is working on a bipartisan act to change police practices. Biden had wanted to achieve a bipartisan agreement by the anniversary of Floyd's death, but the police reform bill is still a work in progress. READ MORE HERE
   

• Toky-no | As the delayed and fraught Tokyo Olympics near, the US State Department issued its highest level of warning to Americans planning to visit the country, Level 4: Do not travel. With less than two per cent of the population vaccinated, Japan joins India, Brazil and Mexico on the list of countries included in this restriction. READ MORE HERE
   

• Harris heads to Guatemala | The White House announced Kamala Harris will embark on her first international trip as Vice President to Guatemala in June, tasked with immigration reform. Guatemala is both a large source of migrants crossing the border and, unlike Honduras and El Salvador, is free of the issues of corruption, allegiance to Trump and authoritarian power grabs. In April, 40 per cent of the 17,100 unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States came from Guatemala. READ MORE HERE
   

• Blinken travels to Middle East | Secretary of State Tony Blinken is visiting Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan to meet with heads of state and top officials. In hopes to maintain  the ceasefire, he will be meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister about their 'ironclad commitment to Israel's security' and the Palestinian Authority President about their efforts to 'rebuild ties to, and support for, the Palestinian people and leaders, after years of neglect.' READ MORE HERE

WEBINAR | 4 JUNE

US Politics and Policy Web Series with special guest Annelise Nielsen

The United States Studies Centre and Perth USAsia Centre host a monthly web series reviewing the latest in US politics and policy and what this means for Australia.

In the midst of the biggest pandemic in a century, Sky News Host Annelise Nielsen headed to the epicentre – the United States. Bringing a camera man she ventured into the heart of the 2020 election to talk directly to citizens to understand the people behind the political polarisation. Why were Americans so much more divided over mask mandates than Australians? How many people truly believe the 2020 election was stolen? What has changed since President Biden took office?

To discuss these issues, please join us for this month’s US Politics and Policy Web Series featuring Annelise Nielsen, the first dedicated Washington Correspondent for Sky News Australia, in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman and Perth USAsia Centre CEO Professor Gordon Flake.

WHEN:
Friday 4 June, 1pm AEST (Sydney) 11am AWST (Perth)

COST:
Free but registration is essential.

You can also subscribe to have event invitations and reminders sent straight to your inbox, so you never have to miss an event!

ANALYSIS

China is digging an Australia-sized hole for itself

Dr John Lee
Non-Resident Senior Fellow

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not seem to care much for the so-called “Law of Holes:” the adage that if you find yourself in one, stop digging. The live case study is the cascading economic coercive measures and barrage of insults it is leveling against Australia. Beijing’s malice is proving that the Trump and Biden administrations got it right in identifying China as the comprehensive challenge of our times.

Australia is showing that smaller allies have agency and it's no easy matter for China to permanently coerce democracies into subservience. But there is a long way to go. Australian determination to hold its ground and absorb pain is one thing — but Beijing will have others in its sights, and the test for America is to help its other allies and partners demonstrate the same resolve.

Since 2010, China has perpetrated at least 150 instances of economic coercion against countries and firms. More than half of these occurred over the past two years and most have been directed toward Australia. Why? Australia was a seemingly easy target: heavily reliant on exporting minerals, energy, and agricultural goods, with more than one third of every Australian export dollar earned in the Chinese market. This makes Australia the most China-reliant advanced economy in the world from a trading perspective.

China has imposed punitive measures against more than a dozen Australia sectors and has cost exporters billions in lost revenue. Beijing has also used a very different approach than the punishments dished out in the past against economies such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

While there was little doubt that previous measures were Chinese responses to policies taken by these countries against Beijing’s wishes, the CCP nevertheless left itself room to deny there was any link between decisions made by these countries and the coercive measures. For example, rare earths restrictions were attributed to a Chinese decision to reduce the domestic processing of rare earths for environmental reasons. Boycotts against South Korean firms were said to be initiated by angry Chinese citizens rather than the regime.

This artifice allowed Beijing some degree of deniability — even if it was hardly plausible — and decreased the chances of a country attaining a favourable determination against China through World Trade Organization dispute mechanisms. The allegedly non-governmental basis for punishment also meant additional arbitrary measures could be added on, thereby creating a sense of heightened apprehension in that targeted country.

This is an excerpt from an article by Dr John Lee published by The Hill.
Click below to read the full publication.

BY THE NUMBERS

Immigration rate: US 2.99 | AUS 7.13 per 1,000 people

Sarah Hamilton
Research Associate for Data Insights

Both the United States and Australia have large immigrant populations, attracting people from all over the world. Fourteen per cent of the US population and 29.8 per cent of Australia’s population were born overseas. However the immigration rate for Australia is significantly higher at 7.13 immigrants per 1,000 people compared to 2.99 in the United States. After pushback from his own party, President Biden recently announced an increase in the cap to 62,500 refugees and pledged to “modernize the immigration system” which would create a process to legalise the 11 million unauthorised immigrants currently estimated to be in the country.

For more on the post-pandemic impact of a more restrictive approach to immigration, read Avoiding US-style demographic stagnation by Dr Stephen Kirchner.

VIDEO | SOTUS 2021

Professor Simon Jackman's address on US domestic politics and policy polling

Were you unable to make it to our State of the United States Conference in Canberra? Together with the PerthUSAsia Centre, we hosted an in-person half-day event to mark the launch of our State of the United States: An evolving alliance agenda joint report.

USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman provided a briefing on the results of the State of the United States (SOTUS) poll comparing Australian and American attitudes toward China, climate change and isolationism. Professor Jackman's full address is available now for replay on our YouTube channel. Watch the full event HERE.

Download your own copy of our State of the United States report.

Catch this and other recent webinars on the USSC YouTube channel!

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#RememberingGeorgeFloyd