When it comes to the various relationships that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, the various relationships that Australia has with the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship in question is diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature) are among the most important relationships that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories. And, as will be discussed in the second article in this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among the general Australian populace, the history of the relationships that had existed between what is now the Commonwealth of Australia and what is now the People’s Republic of China, the history of the various relationships that had existed between the two nation-states (again, whether the relationship in question is diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature) had often been fraught with tension, and an argument could be made that the often tense relationship between both Australia and the People’s Republic of China has, not only the various relationships that had existed between the two nation-states, but also the image that the general Australian populace has of the various relationships that had existed between the two nation-states (and in particular the people-to-people relationships that had existed between the people of Australia and the people of the People’s Republic of China), had also impacted both the teaching, as well as the study, of China at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), and that when combined, both of these variables can have negative ramifications for the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), which can have ramifications for how members of the general Australian populace views the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese people.

When it comes to the development of the image that members of the general Australian populace has of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese people (and in particular the image that members of the general Australian populace has of Australia’s 1.2 million strong Chinese-Australian community), several sectors of the wider Australian society plays an important role in the development of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who are undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), and these various institutions that makes up the wider Australian society that can have an influence on the level of China literacy (and the level of Asia literacy) that exist among members of the general Australian populace are the Australian political system, educational institution that are located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), and the media ecosystem in Australia (whether the media outlet in question is part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”). In this series of articles, I will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who are undertaking study at educational institutions that are located across all three levels of the Australian education system.

When it comes to the development of China literacy (and, more generally, the level of Asia literacy) that exist among members of the general Australian populace, educational institutions that are located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system) plays an important role when it comes to the development of China literacy among members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system. As will be discussed in the third article in this series of articles on China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question was located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system played an important role in the development of China literacy (and, more generally, the development of Asia literacy) that exist among the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had undertaken study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system.

When it comes to the level of China literacy (and the level of Asia literacy) that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), one of the key variables that can influence the level of China literacy that exist among students who are undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, and this in turn can have ramifications for how members of the general Australian populace views the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese people, and the level of encouragement emanating from governments that had been located across all three levels of the Australian political system (whether the government in question is located at the federal, state, or local level of the Australian political system) to undertake study of China and the Chinese (Mandarin) language at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system.

In recent decades, and this will be discussed in more detail in the third article in this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question is located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), governments that had been located across all three levels of the Australian political system (whether the government in question had been located at the federal, state, or local level of the Australian political system, and this had been most pronounced among governments that had been located at the federal level of the Australian political system, whether it was the centre-left Australian Labor Party or the centre-right Liberal Party that had been in power at the federal level of the Australian political system) had actively encouraged students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system to undertake study of Asia and Asian languages other than English in order to take advantage of the “Asian Century” and the rise of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories. When it came to both the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and Asian languages other than English at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, there had been various policy papers and white papers that had been released that had been aimed at increasing the level of Asia literacy that had existed among students undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system in order to better prepare students for both the challenges, as well as the opportunities, that had been presented by the “Asian Century” and the rise of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, with the Australia in the Asian Century white paper (which was released in October 2012 by the Australian Federal Government, which, at the time was led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard of the centre-left Australian Labor Party) being the most important of these policy papers and white papers that was aimed at increasing the level of Asia literacy that had existed among students who had been undertaking study within the Australian education system.

When it comes to increasing the level of Asia literacy (and in particular the level of China literacy) that exist among members of the general Australian populace, it had often been argued that the various educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system) plays an important role when it comes to the development of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system. And while the various educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system does play an important role when it comes to the development of Asia literacy (and in particular the level of China literacy) that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, it is not the only aspect of the wider Australian society that plays an important role when it comes to the development of China literacy (and, more generally, the level of Asia literacy) that exist among the general Australian populace, as another aspect of the wider Australian society that plays an important role in the development of China literacy (and, more generally, the level of Asia literacy) that exist among the general Australian populace is the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question is part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”) plays an important role when it comes to the development of Asia literacy (and in particular the level of China literacy) that exist among members of the general Australian populace, and an argument could be made that the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories (and in particular the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from the People’s Republic of China) in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (again, whether the media outlet is part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”) can have an impact on the image that members of the general Australian populace has of Asia (and in particular the image that members of the general Australian populace has of the People’s Republic of China).

It has often been argued, and this will be discussed in more detail in the fourth article in this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system), the media ecosystem often serves as the people’s window on the outside world, and that the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from the world’s constituent nation-states and territories can have ramifications for how individuals views the world’s constituent nation-states and territories, and this is especially the case when it comes to how members of the general Australian populace views Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, and in particular how members of the general Australian populace views the People’s Republic of China. As will be discussed in the fourth article in this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, whether the educational institution in question was located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), the various media outlets that makes up the wider Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question is part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”) plays an important role when it comes to the image that members of the general Australian populace has of the People’s Republic of China, and this had especially been the case when it comes to the recent deterioration in the state of affairs when it comes to the state of the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China in recent years (whether the relationship between Australia and the People’s Republic of China in question was diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature), with this deterioration in the state of the various relationships that had existed between Australian and the People’s Republic of China (and in particular the deterioration of the people-to-people relationships that had existed between the people of Australia and the people of the People’s Republic of China) having been influenced by the decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from the People’s Republic of China in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet is part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”), as well as statements that had been made by members of the political class in Australia towards the People’s Republic of China having negative ramifications for the image that members of the general Australian populace has towards the People’s Republic of China, and that this had become more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic, which saw members of the general Australian populace violently attack members of the various Asian-Australian communities on suspicion of causing the coronavirus pandemic, which was not helped by the coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem, which promoted unfounded conspiracy theories into the alleged origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

When it came to the coronavirus pandemic and the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question was part of the so-called “mainstream media” or is part of the so-called “alternative media”) and the reaction from the general Australian populace to the news of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact that it would have on the wider Australian society, an argument could be made that the news of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the wider Australian society had been compounded by the deterioration of the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic which had impacted all relationships, and in particular the people-to-people relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China, and in some instances, the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship in question was diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people) had become major political issues in Australia, and this had been the case when it comes to foreign direct investment coming into Australia from the People’s Republic of China. In the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020, there had been a lot of concern among members of the general Australian populace in regards to foreign direct investment coming into Australia from the People’s Republic of China, with many Australians putting forward the argument that successive governments at the federal level of the Australian political system (whether it was the centre-left Australian Labor Party or the centre-right Liberal Party that had been in power at the federal level of the Australian political system) had allowed too much foreign direct investment from the People’s Republic of China to enter Australia, and that as a result, the People’s Republic fo China basically controls Australia (this is despite that foreign direct investment coming from the People’s Republic of China only makes up less than two per cent of all total foreign direct investment that had entered the Australian economy annually, and that this sensationalist coverage of foreign direct investment entering Australia from the People’s Republic of China often ignores the level of foreign direct investment entering Australia from the key Anglophone nation-states of the United States of America and the United Kingdom, which are often the two largest sources of foreign direct investment coming into Australia, accounting for almost half of all foreign direct investment coming into Australia annually.

When it comes to the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China had been diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature), these relationships had been at the centre of much political controversy in recent years in Australia, with this political controversy becoming more pronounced in the lead up to federal elections that are held in Australia every three years (unless the Federal Parliament is dissolved prior to the end of the three years). As will be discussed throughout the course of this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who are undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system), the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship in question was diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature) are among the most important relationships that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories. However, and this will also be discussed throughout the course of this series of articles (and in particular the second article in this series of articles, as well as in the sixth and concluding article in this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, whether the educational institution in question was located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), while the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the People’s Republic of China had been considered to be among the most important relationships that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, in recent years, the various relationships that Australia has with the People’s Republic of China had become the most politically controversial relationship that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories.

But despite the politically controversial nature of the various relationships that Australia has with the People’s Republic of China, an argument could be made – and that this argument will be made throughout the course of this series of articles that will be looking at China literacy in Australia and the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace – when it comes to the various relationships that exist between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship in question is diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature), the development of China literacy among the members of the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question was located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system) is widely considered to be very important when it comes to the development of the various relationships that exist between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (whether the relationship in question is diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature). However, despite the importance of the development of China literacy among the general Australian populace, and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (as well as encouragement from governments that had been located across all three levels of the Australian political system to undertake study of Asia and Asian languages other than English as part of their journey through all three levels of the Australian education system), in recent years, there had been a gradual decline in the level of attention that had been paid to both the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and Asian languages other than English (and in particular the teaching, as well as the study, of China and the Chinese (Mandarin) language) at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, with a greater emphasis instead being paid to both the teaching, as well as the study, of subjects that are in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields of study at the expense of subjects that are in the HASS (the Humanities, the Arts and Social Sciences) fields of study, and an argument could be made that this growing emphasis that had been paid to both the teaching, as well as the study, fo subjects that are in the STEM fields of study at the expense of subjects that are in the HASS fields of study could have negative ramifications for the level of China literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of China literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system), and that this, in turn, can have negative ramifications for the various relationships that exist between Australia and the People’s Republic of China.

You can view this article on my website at bhiskins.wordpress.com/2026/06…