Australia aims for diplomacy gold

Australia has won few gold medals for diplomacy among its Asian neighbours in the past couple of years, but next month's Olympic Games might just help the country erase some of the negative headlines.

Few analysts expect the Olympics to alter political perceptions in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, where relations have been most prickly.

But widespread coverage of the Games in Sydney, one of the world's most multicultural cities, might give the ordinary Asian a fresh perspective on Australia and dispel the odd myth.

"Anyone going to Australia will realise it's a diversified country," said one senior Australian diplomat based in the region.

"That might be something people realise with the Olympic Games. It might surprise them."

Australia sometimes gets a black eye in Asian newspapers, with many analysts blaming conservative Prime Minister John Howard for looking more to Europe and the United States than the region since taking power four years ago.

But when Australia led foreign troops into East Timor last year to restore peace following a violent independence vote, some politicians in Indonesia and Malaysia quickly attacked Canberra for getting too big for its boots.

Anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson, now widely discredited in Australia, also managed in the late 1990s to single-handedly roll back years of efforts to portray growing racial harmony Down Under.

And then there are the long-running and public spats with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that seem to ensnare most Canberra governments. Mahathir last May said Australia should behave like a small nation and not bully others.

What some Asian politicians and those in the street miss in the fine print is Australia's thriving economy and the broadening trade, education, tourist and cultural links with Asia.

Two thirds of Australia's exports go to the region, while tens of thousands of Asian students study there.

Australians who work in Asia, along with large numbers of tourists, have also generally cemented their reputation from Kabul to Kota Kinabalu as being easy going and friendly.

All this could be highlighted during the Olympics -- along with the general distaste most Australians hold for the xenophobic views of people like Hanson -- perhaps brushing away some of the hot air that overshadows ties with the region.

Indeed, while relations with Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are the most complex and catch the attention, Canberra's ties with Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam are strong and growing.

Some countries, like the Philippines, would like Canberra to keep playing a central role in the region.

"Australia likes to be identified as an Asian country. Some countries cannot accept this but we are receptive to them," said Philippine Foreign Office spokesman, Ambassador George Reyes.

"Australia should continue to play a stabilising role in the region. Definitely they have a role to play not only in the areas of political and security cooperation but also in economics."

Kazuhiko Koshikawa, spokesman for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, added: "(Our) relationship with Australia is extremely good. We welcome Australia's stance on establishing stronger relationships with countries in Asia."

But John Ingleson, an expert in international relations at the University of NSW, said that might be tough because Howard's government was less interested in being an equal partner in Asia.

He said that had been picked up by key regional elites.

"The government has less of a commitment to Asia and is less at ease in the region than previous governments and that is reflected in its policies," Ingleson told Reuters.

Ingleson said the conservative government's policies did not necessarily reflect personal links with Australia and the region, particularly as the country's Asian population grew.

"Our tourism and migration links are getting tighter. There is a discontinuity between the government's policy and what Australian institutions, companies and people are doing," he said.

In China, where overall relations with Canberra are good and Australia is an increasingly popular place for study and leisure for Chinese, talk of the Olympics does triggers some bitterness.

Sydney pipped Beijing by two votes in the 1993 bidding for the 2000 Games -- an outcome many Chinese saw as a national humiliation.

Last year, Beijing residents were enraged when Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates admitted that he promised two IOC delegates $35,000 each for their national Olympic committees the night before the IOC voted for Sydney.

"Our feeling is that there were some non-technical reasons for the failure of our bid for the 2000 Olympics," said a spokeswoman for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee.

"Of course we feel some regret, but we have another chance now," said spokeswoman Ma Chunling.

Philippine officials said the Olympics would give Australia an excellent chance to put its best foot forward.

But one official who asked not to be identified said Australia -- likely to win many medals at the Games -- should also seek the gold for modesty.

"They are expected to reap a lot of honours during the Games because they have many good swimmers and athletes but that feeling of pride has to be moderated," the official said.

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