Australia and Asia: ties that bind

Australia and Asia are becoming increasingly intertwined in everything from trade and investment, to economic and social development, Professor Veronica Taylor writes on East Asia Forum . No one now seriously doubts Australia's interdependency with its Asian neighbours. Our borders are porous, we are exposed to one another's risk, and our trade, investment, economic and social development, political stability and regional security depend on mutual cooperation. Increasingly, the flashpoints in Australia's Asian relationships, for example, are about who sets the rules and standards; who monitors them and how will they be enforced. Southern Ocean whaling by Japan, abattoirs in Indonesia, aviation industry standards in Vietnam, food safety in China, corruption in aid delivery in Afghanistan, and treatment of asylum seekers in Malaysia matter acutely to different constituencies in Australia. In an information-saturated world they become media storms and then political liabilities. But governments are often stymied - these are not the kind of issues that you can legislate away or resolve quickly by reference to contract, bilateral trade agreement terms, or international adjudication.