Claims China has no interest in a military conflict with the US

The former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was the recent guest on ‘Talking Foreign Affairs’ with Adil Cader. The two discuss the key foreign policy highlights of Howard’s time in office and a range of geopolitical subjects. 

Talking about the possibility of a potential military conflict between the United States and China, Howard remarks that a military conflict between the two countries is not imminent in the foreseeable future. He further adds that “China has no interest in a military conflict with the United States”.

Mr. Howard expresses his views on multilateralism and bilateralism, giving preference to the latter. Having served the second longest in office, Howard opens up about his time at the office, soft power as well as sports diplomacy, an area that is dear to him.

Adil Cader moves forward with a question on the importance of a connection between heads of states in terms of developing bilateral relationships. Howard responds: “The America-Australia relationship is bigger and goes beyond who happens to be in Canberra or the White House. It can cross the party-political divide.”

Howard recounts how Australia stood alongside the US during the Vietnam War, which happened to be the most controversial American foreign policy decision in the last 50 or 60 years. On Britain, he suggests a “realistic” approach to bilateral relations, maintaining that he is very supportive of the English institutions and their contribution to the many characteristics within the Australian constitution. 

However, he adds: “We’ve never had a class driven society or aristocracy because we decided that wasn’t suitable for Australia.” Towards the end, he talks about his favourite sporting event while in office and the significance of the time during which it took place.   

John Winston Howard served as Australia’s 25th Prime Minister and is the nation’s second longest serving Prime Minister, was a Member of Parliament for 33 years, and was Treasurer in an earlier Government.

“Our purpose is to empower and encourage young people to play an active role in foreign affairs and diplomacy, to combat global challenges. We enable this by engaging World Leaders to share their learnings and perspectives on foreign affairs and diplomacy,” said the ‘Talking Foreign Affairs’ Founder and Host Adil Cader.