Australian China Expert calls for Drastic Re-think

The transcript of an interview of Paul Monk, the author of Thunder from the Silent Zone , was posted on Friday. Monk is calling for a radical re-think of China and Taiwan issues by the major players. It's a nice thought, but it ain't gonna happen.

ELEANOR HALL: A former head of the China division in Australia's Defence Intelligence Organisation is calling today for a radical rethink of Australia and the West's policy on China.

In a provocative book published this week, Dr Paul Monk warns that the Australian and United States foreign policy approach to China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan are inherently dangerous and risk provoking a bloody cross-straits conflict.

Instead he proposes a dramatic shift in thinking on Chinese-Taiwan relations, which he postulates could in fact see China voluntarily handing Taiwan its independence.

And he sees Australia playing a critical role in this new policy approach.

Dr Monk spoke to me from our Melbourne studios about his book, Thunder from the Silent Zone.

David on Formosa reviews the book here.

[Taiwan] [China]