Learning about the nuts and bolts of China

How can this be done?

By Australian individuals: (i) demanding better quality information from the media; (ii) encouraging academia to become relevant players in the messy world of business, the media, and politics; and (iii) lobbying their governments to invest more tax dollars on Chinese language and culture courses in primary and secondary schools, and in local tertiary institutions.

Although the establishment of The Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU is a step in the right direction, this initiative reflects a continuing top-down academic bias to the task of educating more Australians about China. It risks being ridiculed by informed Australians as an ivory tower irrelevance. Window dressing. Or as the Chinese themselves would say: "face".

We can do better than this. Bottom-up, nuts and bolts courses in Chinese language and culture in ordinary schools across the nation is the way to go. In the long run, this is how ordinary Australians will take up the challenge of getting to know more about China and its 1.3 billion people.

It is in our national interest to do so.