Source: smh.com.au
Boao: Billionaire miner Andrew Forrest has waded into the racism debate, slamming some politicians for exploiting ignorance in Australia about Chinese families who just wanted to work hard and have "a fair go".
"There’s been short term exploitation by politicians of the lack of understanding of China by most Australians, and of the Chinese heart by most Australians," Mr Forrest said in an interview on the sidelines of the Boao Forum economic summit.
Mr Forrest said the "Chinese heart" was no different from that of many Australians.
"They love their family, they love their country. They are happy to work hard and have a fair go."
He said the Chinese "don’t go around invading other countries ... We’ve got plenty of other examples of that and it isn’t China. They want to work hard and leave a better life for their kids. What does that sounds like? It sounds like Australia."
Mr Forrest said at the forum that Australia was a part of Asia.
He said politicians who exploit a lack of understanding about Asia were working against Australia’s interests. Immigration and racism have come to the fore in both the NSW state election earlier this month, and in the looming federal poll.
Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten on Wednesday told Chinese Australian voters on the Chinese social media forum WeChat that his NSW counterpart Michael Daley was wrong to criticise Asian students for taking jobs. Mr Daley stepped down as NSW Labor leader as a result of his election loss.
BFA, which is sponsored by Mr Forrest’s company, Fortescue Metals Group, is a major Beijing-backed business conference that was co-founded by former prime minister Bob Hawke and his Philippines and Japanese counterparts almost two decades ago.
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is the forum’s chairman, and South Korea’s prime minister Lee Nak-yon attended Thursday’s opening speech by Chinese premier Li Keqiang.
But the Australian presence has been scaled back as relations between China and Australia have become strained, particularly after the domestic political debate over "Chinese influence" that accompanied the Turnbull Government’s foreign interference laws last year.
Mr Forrest made his fortune through Fortescue Metals Group’s exports to China, sending 170 million tonnes of iron ore last financial year.
He also said on Thursday that he was raising concerns with senior Chinese officials during his visit about the "moral dilemma" posed by artificial intelligence.
He said the world was "sleepwalking into an artificial intelligence regime that will be the most powerful invention we have ever made".
He had been told an AI policy was being discussed between strategic rivals United States and China.
"China is deeply conscious of the power of artificial intelligence and want zero harm to citizens. They’ve just been talking to the United States, but I am saying to the world, ‘Talk to each other’."Mr Forrest said AI has huge potential to put people out of jobs.
Kirsty Needham is China Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
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