{"id":384075,"date":"2025-06-21T19:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=384075"},"modified":"2025-06-21T19:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:30:08","slug":"claim-australias-renewable-energy-future-requires-realignment-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=384075","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Australia\u2019s Renewable Energy Future Requires Realignment With China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ChatGPT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAustralia must ditch its distrust and collaborate\u201d \u2013 and not purchase any US nuclear submarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve seen the energy future and it\u2019s in China, and Australia must ditch its distrust and collaborate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caroline Wang<\/a>
Jun 18, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen the energy future, and it\u2019s in China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a recent delegation, I saw the futuristic factory of solar giant Longi in Jiaxing, with its omnipresent robots, combining automation, big data, AI and 5G to flexibly customise solar module components for diverse application scenarios and customers, revolutionising advanced manufacturing at massive scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not an isolated case. China leads the world by a huge and growing margin across almost all of the frontiers of our decarbonised future, from sophisticated clean tech manufacturing to domestic renewable energy installations to foreign direct investment into the energy transition.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As John Grimes, CEO of peak industry body the Smart Energy Council said on our recent delegation, \u201cIt is the Australia-China relationship that gives the world a fighting chance in addressing climate change<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as Grimes acknowledges, a crude geostrategic lens continues to dominate the Australian government\u2019s thinking on partnership with China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Dr Cao Yu, Executive Director of CMBI Capital Management, commented:\u00a0\u201cThe Australian side of the relationship is not stable\u201d, referring to Australia\u2019s partnership in AUKUS<\/strong>, a China containment strategy costing $368bn and now under\u00a0review\u00a0<\/a>by the Trump Administration \u2013 funding that could be spent on renewable energy to help solve the world\u2019s largest threat: climate change.\u00a0

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/ive-seen-the-energy-future-and-its-in-china-and-australia-must-ditch-its-distrust-and-collaborate\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

AUKUS<\/a>, among other things, is a deal for Australia to purchase three US nuclear powered Virginia class submarines. Such submarines would present a grave strategic threat towards any Chinese aggression in the South Pacific, where depending on the target of that aggression, maritime military supplies would potentially have to be transported through thousands of miles of open ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this US \/ Australia \/ UK submarine deal is under threat, because of Australia\u2019s public hostility towards some US foreign policy positions, and Australia\u2019s outright rejection of Trump\u2019s request for Australia to spend more on defence<\/a>. All of this appears to be undermining US confidence in Australia\u2019s reliability as a US ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China would love for Australia to align more closely with China. Australia refused China\u2019s recent appeal to \u201cjoin hands\u201d to oppose US tariffs<\/a>, an international embarrassment which likely shocked China\u2019s leadership. As Australia\u2019s largest trading partner, the market for over 30% of Australia\u2019s exports, China may have assumed Australia was already part of their sphere of influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China may have underestimated how much they upset Aussie voters, by conducting unannounced live fire exercises near the Australian coast<\/a> in March this year. This anger over China\u2019s infringement on Australia\u2019s sovereignty makes it politically difficult for Australian leaders to appear too friendly towards China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another problem. Paying for AUKUS commitments AND Prime Minister Albanese\u2019s green energy promises would really stretch Australia\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Australian Government: More Committed than Ever to Renewable Energy<\/a><\/blockquote>