“The United States is Australia’s largest investment partner and the United States is Australia’s third-largest trade partner.”
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Mr Culvahouse said the COVID-19 pandemic had highlighted the importance of finding reliable supply routes and conceded Australia should find new trade partners that played by the rules.
“It’s more clear than ever that in the post-COVID world friends matter, friends you can trust, friends who share your values, your interests and who are there for you in the good times and in the bad times,” he said.
When asked about WA Premier Mark McGowan’s views on China, Mr Culvahouse said he would be meeting with the Premier on Wednesday afternoon but it was not his job to get involved in “domestic politics”.
However, he criticised a move by a Perth museum to alter a digital exhibit about China and COVID-19 after complaints from the Chinese community and consul-general, saying that was something he “would expect that my country wouldn’t do”.
The digital exhibit in WA Museum Boola Bardip’s ‘Connections’ gallery described COVID-19 as “a coronavirus originating in mainland China” in a pop-up about the year 2020.
Mr Culvahouse’s warning comes as bilateral relations between Australia and Beijing continue to sour over a trade dispute that has seen China block Australian produce and impose tariffs on grain.
Tensions with China rapidly escalated in May after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A team of 10 scientists, including Australians, are readying to travel to Wuhan for the investigation.
Mr Culvahouse, a former lawyer and White House counsel to President Ronald Regan who was posted to Australia to restore diplomatic relationships, is expected to be recalled to Washington after US Electoral College members formally cast their votes on December 14.
