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Australia Finally Cuts University Ties With China · The Slippery Slope

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  Australia finally terminates university deals with China.
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  But this has been happening for years, so why now?
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  Well, I'm Jay Fallon, and this is the Slippery Slope podcast.
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  download. OK, let's get straight into it.
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  Australia has just terminated 2 joint benches between Australian
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  and Chinese universities, 1 involving the Australian
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  National University and Shandong University and another involving
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  the University of Queensland. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has
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  declared the ANU Shandong deal invalid and unenforceable, and
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  Anu has already said it will comply.
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  On paper, this looks like a strong national security stance.
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  But let's not kid ourselves. This isn't new, this isn't
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  sudden, and it certainly isn't decisive leadership.
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  And if you've been watching my podcast at all for the last few
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  years, you know I've talked a lot about leadership, what
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  leadership is in comparing what we now class as leadership
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  within our governments, within our bureaucratic system, and
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  what I believe is actually just management.
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  We've just got to we're, we're a nation just full of managers.
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  That's all we have. There's no real leadership
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  within our government, especially right now.
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  The CCP's influence in Australian universities.
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  It's not a new discovery. For more than a decade,
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  Australia has known, not suspected, but known that the
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  Chinese Communist Party has been infiltrating our universities
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  and educational institutions. So we've had CCP aligned student
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  groups monitoring and intimidating Chinese students
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  who speak out. We've got documented cases of
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  Chinese students in Australia being threatened for supporting
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  Hong Kong. CCP agents living and working in
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  Australia, influencing student bodies and political offices.
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  Confucius Institutes shaping curriculum, censoring discussion
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  and controlling cultural narratives.
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  ASIO warnings about foreign interference operations
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  targeting politicians, donors and institutions.
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  None of this was hidden and none of this was subtle.
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  None of this was a surprise. The Australian government has
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  been fully aware of these issues for years and yet they have
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  chosen consistently to do nothing.
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  So you have to ask yourself, why act now?
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  Why suddenly terminate these partnerships?
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  Because the political cost of ignoring the CCP interference
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  has finally become finally become too high.
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  Because public awareness has grown.
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  Because the CCP's behaviour can no longer be brushed aside with
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  diplomatic language or economic excuses.
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  This is not leadership, it's damage control.
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  It's management. The government is reacting to a
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  crisis it allowed to grow unchecked.
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  So the real problem, it's institutional cowardice.
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  Australia's political class has spent years downplaying CCP
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  interference. Protecting university revenue
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  streams. This is all about the money.
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  You just have to trace the money back.
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  They are making money, that's why they've been protecting
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  these university revenue streams.
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  Also about prioritising international student dollars
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  over national security. It's also about ignoring
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  intelligence briefings pretending foreign influence was
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  a a fringe concern, and now, when the consequences are
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  undeniable, they want credit for taking action.
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  Finally, this is the slippery slope we've been warning about.
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  I've been warning about when leaders ignore danger long
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  enough, they normalise it. They allow foreign powers to
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  embed themselves in our institutions, and they sacrifice
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  sovereignty for convenience. And then when they finally act,
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  they pretend they saw the danger all along.
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  The thing is, I believe they did see the danger all along.
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  They chose not to react. They chose not to react.
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  So they've finally done it. Now they want little pat on the
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  back for doing it. You know, Proverbs 2925.
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  It warns that the fear of man will prove to be a snare, but
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  whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
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  The fear of man will prove to be a snare.
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  For years, Australia feared Beijing more than it feared the
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  consequences of compromise. It feared economic retaliation
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  more than it feared losing control of its own institutions.
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  It feared diplomatic discomfort more than it feared foreign
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  infiltration. And that fear became a snare.
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  So let's just think about where this is going to go next.
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  Terminating 2 university partnerships is not a solution.
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  It's it's merely A symbolic gesture.
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  The CCP's influence in Australia extends far beyond academia.
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  It extends into politics, business, technology,
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  infrastructure, community organisations.
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  So unless the government is willing to confront the full
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  scope of the problem, not just the parts that make headlines,
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  this is just another attempts, another attempt to look
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  proactive while avoiding accountability.
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  Avoiding true accountability while they will never hold
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  themselves accountable. Australia didn't wake up.
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  Australia's just hits the bottom of the slope and is now
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  pretending it saw the danger all along.
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  But as always, this is just my opinion.
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  I'm Jay Fallon and thanks for listening to the Slippery Slope
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  podcast. They just feel.