A young Australian researcher was having a late-morning drink in a Canberra pub in 1971 when he received a life-changing phone call.
“The pub yelled, ‘Is there anyone by the name of Stephen FitzGerald?'”
One of Australia’s most powerful politicians – future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam – was on the phone.
Mr Whitlam, the leader of the opposition at the time, asked the China expert if he would join him on a historic diplomatic mission to the country.
“I said yes, of course I would!” dr FitzGerald told the BBC.
“Then, in his inimitable wisdom, he said, ‘Would you mind traveling in economy class?'”
This moment would help Australia get the ball rolling to forge diplomatic ties with China. He did that 50 years ago – on December 21, 1972.
The trip was a risky political move for Mr Whitlam.
In 1971, in the midst of the Cold War, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) burst onto the world stage, seeking improved foreign relations and a seat at the United Nations.
But it faced hurdles from key players like the US, which refused to recognize the CCP as China’s legitimate government.
Australia was one such nation. China remained a “deeply divisive” issue there, says Dr. FitzGerald.
Back then, only 3% of the population was born outside of Australia or Europe – and many people were suspicious of other cultures. The “Red Menace” of Communism was also of great concern. Such fears overlapped over China.
It resonated with many when Australia’s Conservative government spoke of the threat of “China’s downward thrust,” says Dr. FitzGerald. It was easy to “conjure up the idea that Australia would be taken over by Chinese, and not just Chinese, but Chinese who were communists”.
“It was a powerful message…although it wasn’t remotely possible.”
On the other hand, Mr Whitlam had long advocated for Australia to establish ties with China.
It wasn’t because of any ideological sympathy for the CCP, says Dr. FitzGerald. “You don’t have to like them… [But] His view was: How can you not have diplomatic relations with the government of a country of this size?
But even within Mr Whitlam’s Labor Party, many viewed any move towards China as “political death” at home.
“So it took courage on many fronts,” says Dr. FitzGerald.
Mr. Whitlam’s journey to China may have seemed inevitable, but Dr. FitzGerald’s path was more of a stroke of luck.
He has not decided to study China. From the moment he was assigned Chinese lessons on his first day as a cadet in the foreign service, everything went like snow. And when Mr. Whitlam called, Dr. FitzGerald went for a career in science.
But if the invitation was a surprise, the journey itself felt even more surreal.
“Back then you had to walk to China, there were no flights,” says Dr. FitzGerald. “We had to go to Hong Kong, take the train to the border, carry our luggage across, go through immigration and customs on the Chinese side, and then board another train.”
The delegation visited companies, factories, schools and tourist attractions for two weeks. dr FitzGerald recalls constantly explaining Australia’s sense of humor to “stunned” Chinese officials.
But the ultimate goal of the mission was to meet then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. It was never clear if that would happen – until Chinese officials arrived at the Australians’ hotel late one night and began ushering people into cars.
“We drove through the empty streets of Beijing to the Great Hall of the People, walked up the stairs, through dimly lit corridors into a room, and Zhou Enlai stood there,” says Dr. FitzGerald.
As the much-anticipated meeting began, Mr. Zhou surprised the delegation by inviting journalists to stay in the room.
The meeting changed Australia’s feelings towards China.
“The Chinese were demonized as a mixture of red devils and yellow dangers – almost as if they had horns. And here was this most sophisticated and civilized, polite and diplomatic, polite, charming person.
“When I saw this meeting between Whitlam and Zhou Enlai, I came to the conclusion that relations with China would never be the same again.
“All that stood between us and diplomatic relations at that point were the December 1972 elections.”
Mr Whitlam won the election, ending 23 years of Conservative rule. Within weeks, on December 21, he recognized the People’s Republic of China.
Soon after, he sent Dr. FitzGerald as Australia’s first ambassador to the country after Beijing. At just 34, he remains Australia’s youngest-ever ambassador.
“Of course it was intimidating. That couldn’t be,” he says. “But I think that feeling was really overwhelmed by the excitement.”
Mr. Whitlam’s hope was that Australia would develop a relationship with China comparable to that of other major powers, says Dr. FitzGerald.
But 50 years later, that’s not the case.
Australia and China have benefited enormously from trading with each other, but bilateral ties have fallen to record lows of late. High-level contact was suspended for two years over disputes over trade, human rights and foreign interference.
But last month Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, elected in May, became the first Australian leader since 2016 to have a face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He said it had been a “warm” and “very constructive” talk but there had been no movement on issues important to Australia. Many experts have little optimism that the relationship will improve significantly in the foreseeable future.
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Jennifer Hsu, a research fellow at the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, told the BBC at the time that there were still too many points of conflict. Many of them, she says, are rooted in “fundamental” differences such as systems of government or values.
“These problems are not solved by one meeting, or even multiple meetings.”
Another such meeting will take place on Wednesday when Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. It is the first visit by an Australian minister to China’s capital in more than three years.
dr FitzGerald says today’s China seems “more dictatorial-minded” and “assertive,” but he still believes there are lessons to be learned from what happened 50 years ago.
“That [Whitlam] The government realized that no matter what happened, you still have to maintain relationships with the government in this country.
“It didn’t mean everything was sweet and light, but it did mean we were talking.”
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