Would Australia's new ambassador save Kevin Rudd out of shadow? 
Frances Adamson (left) visits former Kaohsiung county magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing on Oct. 6, 2004, during her time as Australia's representative to Taiwan. The Australian government has appointed Frances Adamson as its ambassador to China, the first time the country has appointed a woman to one of the top ambassadorships in Asia, according to a report from The Australian. Adamson will replace Geoff Raby, who is a former deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has been ambassador since February 2007. Ms Adamson proved an astute analyst of Taiwan's often complex political scene, predicting successfully - against the overwhelming run of expectation at the time - that Chen Shui-bian would win a second term as president. Her Chinese language skills are regarded as workmanlike and competent. Ms Adamson, a Chinese speaker with a degree in economics from Adelaide University, has been deputy high commissioner to Britain and has also been posted to Hong Kong, and to Taiwan as Australian representative - the equivalent of ambassador. A Canberra insider praised her performance as chief of staff to Mr Smith, saying she was "extremely efficient and knowledgeable, considered a real DFAT high-flyer". Since the WikiLeaks document revealed that Kevin Rudd apparently told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be prepared to use force on China last year, Chinese people were to some extent disappointed about the ''brutal realist'' former diplomat to Beijing. He said Australia and China had a robust relationship and had disagreed in the past: "that's normal". He added: "The business of diplomacy is not to just roll over and have your tummy tickled from time to time by China or anyone else." Would Australia's new ambassador save Kevin Rudd out of shadow? Wait and see. |
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