Rudd unlikely to do as Romans do on Rio
Kevin Rudd has been in Rome this week, but do not expect him to cry 'Civis Romanus Sum' when its comes to the case of Stern Hu, Australian national and Rio Tinto executive detained in Shanghai on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets. Roman citizens could expect to be protected by the Roman empire if ever they were taken in custody on foreign soil. The British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, liked to think that Britons were afforded that same entitlement, as well. But Kevin Rudd has taken a very different approach with China, such is the worry about offending Australia's second biggest trading partner.
In Canberra, the relationship with Beijing is a matter of extremely careful calibration - and especially so for the Mandarin-speaking Mr Rudd, who has long been sensitive to the 'Manchurian candidate' jibe.
No doubt wishing to play on this, the opposition has been calling on him to take a tougher line over Mr Hu's detention, and to publicly voice his concerns to China. As they have delighted in pointing out, he has the linguistic skills to do so.
But speaking to an ABC reporter in Italy, all Mr Rudd would say was that his government was moving 'calmly, methodically, and step by step' - which happens to be a pretty neat summation of his governing philosophy. (When Mr Rudd was asked about asylum seekers earlier this week in Malaysia, he offered the same formulation, saying it was being dealt with in a 'methodical, calm, effective way.')
Certainly, the relationship with China is vital, especially when the Australian economy is teetering on the brink of a technical recession. Only this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia cited the strengthening of the Chinese economy as a key factor in its decision to keep interest rates on hold.
Still, it is wrong to argue that Australia's prosperity is solely China's gift, the modern-day variant of Donald Horne's 'Lucky Country' argument back at the start of the 1960s that Australia's status as a resources powerhouse helped compensate for unimaginative political leadership ('Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck,' is his book's most ringing quote).
After all, the resources boom really only kicked in around 2003, and Australia has enjoyed 17 years of economic growth. Similarly, the key market for Australian coal is Japan rather than China.
So is the Rudd government being too meek in its dealings with China, over the Hu case and in general, and are the Chinese taking advantage of this timidity?
This is the view of Greg Sheridan, the foreign editor of The Australian: "There is an air of contempt in the way the Chinese authorities have failed to respond to Australian government requests for information and for consular access to Mr Hu until today.
"What does the much touted Australia-China relationship add up to if Beijing treats Canberra with such conspicuous discourtesy and indifference?"
In recent weeks, we have heard Mr Rudd speak Spanish and Italian in public. But don't expect to hear that Latin location, Civis Romanus Sum, any time soon.
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