Australian prime minister resigns; ties with China still OK: expert
- Source: Global Times
- [03:17 June 25 2010]
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By Liu Dong
A tearful Kevin Rudd, the former charismatic Australian prime minister, stepped down Thursday, catapulting Julia Gillard to become the nation's first-ever woman to take on the job.
The shakeup was the result of an abrupt "party coup" that jolted the political arena in the Asia-Pacific country.
Gillard said she was "very honored" to be the country's 27th prime minister, while the dejected Rudd agonized his sudden fall from power after three years, making him the first prime minister in Australia to quit office in 19 years.
The 52-year-old, fluent-Chinese-speaking Rudd, who steered Australia out of the raging recession, had consistently topped polls since taking the reins in 2007. He was widely deemed the nation's most popular leader in nearly 30 years, until the recently launched botched policy initiatives killed his public backing.
"A slew of domestic-reform programs failed to coordinate the diverging interest appeals of differing societal echelons, thereby plummeting Rudd's support rating," Jia Qingguo, deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, told the Global Times.
"Rudd planned to implement a mining tax reform, which undermined benefits of mining giants and stoked collective opposition. In another destructive move, Rudd shelved an emission-cut scheme - a key point in his electoral initiative package - which enraged the public. Consequently, Rudd lost the support of both the upper and lower strata," Jia said.
The ruling Labor Party, anxious that Rudd's steep rating decline could threaten its governing status in the upcoming year-end elections, decided it was time for a new leader.
The unexpected political upheveal came as Chinese Vice Chairman Xi Jinping wrapped up his four-country Asia- Pacific trip, in which a series of trade treaties were signed between China and Australia and were touted as helping smooth over prior spats over iron ore.
"The Sino-Australian ties will not be affacted by the reshuffle," He Maochun, director of the Research Center for Economic Diplomacy Studies at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.
"The two nations are intricately linked in multiple spheres. The two countries are in different phases of development, and their economic modes are complementary, which constitutes a favorable condition for enchanced cooperation," He said.
The newly elected Gillard, expected to reverse the Labor Party's downward spiral, will maintain Rudd's domestic and foreign policies - a decision that should have little impact on Sino-Australian relations.
