H.E. Ms Frances Adamson Australian Ambassador to China Speech to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China An Introduction to the "Australia in the Asian Century" White Paper Australian Embassy Beijing Wednesday, 31 October, 2012 Good afternoon: my thanks to the Board and members of the FCCC; today's MC, Beijing Correspondent for Fairfax, John Garnaut; and, in his absence, Michael Sainsbury, Beijing correspondent for 'The Australian', for their help in pulling together today's event at short notice. It's my great pleasure to have the opportunity today to speak to you all -- members and guests of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China -- here in the Australian Embassy. It's my first time to address the FCCC since taking up my appointment, and I can think of no better occasion to do so than marking the release -- just this past Sunday -- of the Australian Government's "Australia in the Asian Century" White Paper. Today, I plan to step you through three main points, before taking questions at the end: - first of all, to touch on the background to the Government's decision to release this White Paper; And then, from the White Paper, two parts: - the key points the White Paper makes about Australia's future relationship with Asia; and - where China, and the Australia-China relationship, fit into this. Why did the Australian Government commission a White Paper? In late September 2011, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard commissioned this White Paper. At the time, it was noted: "The shift of