People to people dialogue – the bond that ties us

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-27 13:37

At present Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is the first head of a western government to be proficient in Mandarin and back in 1986 he and Ambassador Raby served here in Beijing as Foreign attaches.

This achievement by the Australian PM has according to Raby, "given tremendous focus towards the study of Mandarin in Australia".

The ambassador makes note that the language skills and deep friendships that have emerged over the ensuing decades between Australia and China serve to underpin present negotiations and relations, not just between governments but also at the grassroots.

He mentioned that here in China over the last two decades great achievements have been made in officials mastering of the English language.

He hypothesized about a future where non-Chinese may be able to communicate here in the middle kingdom with their counterparts in Mandarin.