Conference discusses Australian PM's China interest
Updated
Australia's former defence secretary, Ric Smith, says the prime minister's interest in China brings both benefits and risks.
Mr Smith has told a Strategic Policy Institute conference in Canberra that being "China literate" is useful in the current global climate, and has helped define Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, as a leader on the international stage.
But he says Mr Rudd risks talking about the Asian nation ahead of other issues because he has something to say, which could create perceptions of bias towards China.
"I doubt for instance that Mr Rudd would have been as much criticised as he was for visiting China ahead of Japan had he not had the China connection," he said.
"Indeed it could well have been seen as an innovative step."
