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Among dragon slayers and soothsayers

By Brendan John Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-28 10:21

On Sunday when the world spotlight zoomed in on the closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympics, another beam was shining Down Under at the Melbourne Writers' Festival.

Under the gaze was Australia's 24th Prime Minister, Paul Keating.

Though lacking the sex appeal of a bus driven ball-booting Beckham, Keating's words nevertheless hit the mark.

Unlike some leaders who, when they speak, bring attention to their bad grammar, here is a man who compels the listener to reach for the dictionary.

Always admired for his ‘gift of the gab,' he eloquently explained in this 4,382-word speech why western nations and their media outlets had been so critical of China in the lead up to the Games.

He attached it to a sense of threat and fear among ‘elites' who, "feeling the epicenter of the world changing," sought to impede a developing nation's rise.

Nothing new – everyone here knows this, from taxis drivers to shop keepers to senior high school students. What was original was the fact that a world leader, serving or retired, had the gumption to say it aloud, in public.

Though then he chose to look deeper and really began to shine bringing blood to the boil with his soothsayer riddle.

Questioning the ‘bubble of spiritless contentment' that the developed world had found itself in, he asked if collectively, we were able to embark upon a ‘second enlightenment' which transcends "the old barriers of ethnicity and creed, and of course, geography."

Underpinning this quest was the need for the establishment of a more equitable and representative structure of world governance that embraces rising powers and neglected peripheral regions.

"A strategy which has to have as its basis the progress of human existence and not simply the propagation of democracy".

According to the Keating crystal ball there were opportunities squandered by Clinton and Bush Jr., who in the last 16 years failed to adapt to the new global template to accommodate a decentralized Russia. Rather, they tried containment instead of engagement, employing NATO forces around her vast borders.

Within this context, Britain's Blair was also given a tongue whipping for a lack of freethinking, now forever infamous as an ‘acolyte of America'. France's Chirac was likewise derided for being ‘incapable of adding any strategic value to the equation."

This was classic Keating, a real cowboy, who rides into town, high in the saddle, shooting from the hip, knocking down bad guys at will. Always the maverick - the Wild West may be a safer place with more leaders like him.

Ominously Keating envisaged an imminent future with two superpowers, the US and China.

The former already in desperate, delusional decline, whereas the latter rising and politically and strategically more adept at being mobilized if, in the case of war.

Though he notes, the only nuclear power equivalent to the US is Russia, whose vast arsenal is less secure than what it could or should be, making the NATO arms build-up around her borders even more brainless.

Concluding, he beseeched the world community to start again down the path towards the Nuclear Non Proliferation agenda. A pathway Kissinger, among other past Hawks, now also pursues.

There were many fine moments in Keating's speech but perhaps the most telling was when he mentioned Australian Professor of War and Strategic Policy, Robert O'Neill, who approached the US, UK, France, Russia and China with the Nuclear Non Proliferation agenda in mind. What emerged was that only the latter "seemed willing to talk seriously" about changes to the current arms buildup.

This reality paraphrases the words Hu Jintao has been voicing for years that China's development policy is based on peace and a willingness to work with the rest of the world to establish harmony and prosperity.

Well, it didn't take long for critics of Keating to converge, though he is no stranger to battle. So often the underdog and on the outer, he has never stopped fighting for the common good.

Here is a man who left school at the age of 15, found work as a clerk and then brought home the bacon as a research assistant for a trade union.

He rose through the ranks of Australia's Labor Party and in the early 1980's refashioned the Australian economy, deregulated the dollar, liberated banking and introduced a universal superannuation scheme.

He was at the heart of the formulation of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and for his tireless work was awarded three honorary Doctorates in Laws, from Keio, Japan, the National University of Singapore, and the University of New South Wales.

When a world leader, serving or retired, takes the time to speak the hard, tangled truth, it helps cleanse the misunderstanding that allows a dragon to be seen as a menace in one culture and as a source of power and pride in another.