'China has changed, its foreign policy totally changed under Xi Jinping's rule': Australia

China has changed and its foreign policy has totally changed since the incumbent President Xi Jinping came in power, said an Australian foreign policy expert. According to Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute of Australia, since Xi Jinping became President, the country has become more aggressive in the border areas, particularly in the east and west region. While speaking at the 2nd Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture, Dr Fullilove noted that the world is heading for a prolonged period of bipolar competition in the Indo-Pacific region.

Watch the full speech here:

Though the Australian foreign policy expert noted that the Chinese economy has seen phenomenal growth, he added India's economic rise is also important for the Asian success story. "Emerging Asia is the most dynamic part of the world accounting for more than half of the global growth despite representing only the third of the global economy," Dr Fullilove said in the address. 

Notably, his statement comes at a time when China is expanding its border areas under the direction of President Xi Jinping. Several neighbouring countries including India, Bhutan, Japan and Bangladesh have raised grave concerns about the plan of Beijing, still, the Communist government is implementing the same strategy.

"World is heading "for a prolonged period of bipolar competition"

Meanwhile, speaking on 'Australia, India and the Indo-Pacific: The need for strategic imagination,' Fullilove said if "the economic outlook is positive is in Asia, the security outlook is not". Also, he highlighted the current situation wherein China and the United States are at loggerheads to prove their power in the Indo-Pacific region. Further, the Australian foreign policy expert cautioned that the world is heading "for a prolonged period of bipolar competition in the Indo-Pacific region"."Both US and China have exhibited troubling behaviour in the Indo-Pacific over the past decade." 

The Australian expert also took a dig at the Donald Trump policy and added if Washington's international stance over the past decade has been changeable, that of Beijing "has been consistent and increasingly concerning". "Since the ascension of President Xi Jinping in 2012, China has become much more aggressive in the borders towards the east and west and its relations with other states. Australia is an extreme case," he said in an apparent reference to deterioration in China-Australia ties.

"China has changed. Its foreign policy has hardened. The constraints on people within China have tightened. Its willingness to accept criticism has disappeared," he noted.

With inputs from ANI

Image: ANI