澳大利亚人需要更多地了解中国，而不是更少。文化上的理解和积极的双边关系是我们地区实现地缘政治和经济稳定的关键，正如最近的情况所表明的，教育和研究领域的合作可使双方在政治动荡的时期维持关系。

上周，我作为与会者和会议负责人前往中国，参加由澳大利亚前贸易部长克雷格·埃默森带队出席的澳中高级别对话。这一对话自2020年以来首次恢复，来自两国关键经济行业的众多高级别代表出席，这些都表明两国致力于恢复并重申双边关系。

就在对话在北京举行的同一天，澳大利亚总理阿尔巴尼斯宣布将在年底前访华，这并非偶然。两国关系正在升温。

现在不是诋毁中国的时候，无论你怎么看待中国，它都将是影响澳大利亚未来的最重要国家之一。

我们中有些人凭借几十年打交道的经验，知道可以在中国找到真正的友谊、合作和协作。面对互利互惠的结果，我们必须确保澳大利亚人不会轻易落入只见分歧不见共识的陷阱。

有些分歧可能将一直存在，但两国也有一致之处。闭关锁国是过于简单化的做法。通过教育和大学研究继续合作是非常宝贵的，几十年来，这两个领域一直是我们牢固的民间联系的支柱，也日益成为我们的外交关系的支柱。

如果我们要解决当今的重大挑战——气候变化、食品和水安全、人工智能和自动化等问题——就需要全球真正作出努力。实际上，认为澳大利亚——或任何一个国家——能够独自挺过这些危机的想法是幼稚的。我们需要睁大眼睛，共同走过这条路。

最高质量的研究往往涉及国际合作——推动进步的是世界上最优秀和最聪明的人，各国人才聚集到一起，为共同利益汇集他们的知识和专业技能。我们每天都能看到这一点。

最近这次澳中高级别对话为我们提供了一个现在向前看、而不是倒退的机会。现在是承认我们与我们的最大双向贸易伙伴中国有什么共同点的时候了，与此同时，我们要恭敬地承认我们的分歧，并找到一条互利互惠的前进道路。

无论以哪种方式剖析，我们与中国的关系都是长期存在的、真诚的，而且无论政治风向如何，这种关系都将持续下去。

上周在中国，我想起了一句谚语：“授人以鱼不如授人以渔。”

学习、教育和知识能够而且确实改变了我们的理解能力、我们的关系和世界。我们需要更多地了解中国，而不是更少。

Vicki Thomson

Australians need to understand China more, not less. Cultural understanding and positive bilateral relations are key to achieving geopolitical and economic stability in our region, and as the recent past has shown, education and research collaborations sustain relationships through turbulent political times.

Last week, I travelled to China as a participant and session lead in the 7th Australia-China High Level Dialogue led by former trade minister Craig Emerson. The dialogue had not been held since 2020. It’s resumption and the seniority of participants from key industry sectors across the economy – wine, tourism, arts and health – indicates the commitment by both countries to restabilise and reaffirm bilateral relations.

It was no accident that on the same day as the dialogue, held in the stately Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in central Beijing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced he would visit China before the end of the year. Relations are warming.

This is not the time to be vilifying China, which, any way you look at it, will continue to be one of the most significant countries affecting Australia’s future.

Those of us who know from experience the genuine friendship, co-operation and collaboration in China with officials we have worked with for decades, and with mutually beneficial results, must ensure Australians do not fall into the too-easy trap of seeing only what we do not agree with.

These differences will always exist.

But there are also areas of common ground. It is too simplistic to just shut the door. It is invaluable to continue collaborating through education and university research, both of which have been the backbone for decades of our strong people-to-people links and, increasingly, our diplomatic relationship.

It cannot be ignored that it was, after all, the university sector, and in particular the research-intensive Group of Eight universities, that continued to have access to China and its officials when tensions with the Turnbull and Morrison governments left their ministers and officials shut out.

And it was the strong relationships built in China pre-COVID which helped secure agreement for students to continue their studies with Australian universities online. This was no small decision for China, given it represented an upending of long-term policy to the contrary. It shows clearly the value of people-to-people relationships and what can be achieved with mutual trust.

Walking together, with our eyes open

This doesn’t make us naive. Universities are living and working within a changing world, and the Go8 is alive to the risks that these new circumstances bring.

In fact, we were founding members of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce, a global exemplar. But if we are to tackle the great challenges of today – climate change, food and water security, antibiotic resistance, AI and automation, to name just a few – it is going to take a genuine global effort. In fact, it is naive to think that Australia – or any nation – could survive any of these threats alone. We need to walk this path together – but to do so with our eyes wide open.

The highest-quality research is an international endeavour – advancements are driven by the best and brightest in the world coming together to pool their knowledge and expertise for the common good. We see this every day.

The most recent dialogue provides us with an opportunity to now look forward, not backwards. It is time to recognise what we have in common with China, our largest two-way trading partner, while respectfully recognising our differences, and find a mutually beneficial path forward.

Whichever way it is dissected, the education and research relationship we have with China is long-standing, genuine, and will continue regardless of political winds.

While in China last week I was reminded of the proverb “give a man a fish you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

Learning, education and knowledge can and does change our understanding, our relationships and the world. We need to know China more, not less.