To its eternal shame my country Australia sought to distance itself from Asia for many years preferring to cling to ties with Britain/Europe/the U.S. etc.

However in the last twenty years or so - no doubt with one eye on the economic potential of Asia - Australian leaders have almost fallen over themselves to be included in the Asian "club."

Our biggest trade partners are now in Asia, the Australian football team now plays in the Asian World Cup qualifying competition and Japan just concluded a landmark security treaty with Australia.

So what do you think? Should Australia be considered part of Asia - geographically and economically? Or should it be considered an outsider?

Australia is in South Pacific, not in Asia but closed to it, it's why The US used this country to penetrate the Asian market throuh the creation of APEC.

By its ethnic composition, Australia is white, mainly from british roots and its heart is there. Australia has a big rugby team, a game mainly played in Europe (except for South Africa)

But it is also true that with the huge weight of Asia on world economy, Australia has to deal with. Its also also the case of Europe (Asem) without pretending being asian country.

Australia will become an Asian country if the asian immigration continues

From sremmah
So what do you think? Should Australia be considered part of Asia - geographically and economically? Or should it be considered an outsider?

australia is not asia, definitely it is a continent.i donot want to considerably talk about the extremes of considering it a part or be an outsider.

as for me, it is not a part of asia, but it holds a major key to complement trade, business and security
to one another due to its location.

autralia is so geographically close to asia.

Linsi is right. In my last contribution to your forum, I forgot the security aspect which is a large contribution of Australia, the new security pact between Australia and Japan is a new proof of it.

Shame on me

Thanks Linsi, Jacques,

I found your comments interesting...

Hi Rich,

You rised the question, but what is your point of view ?

Hi Jacques,

I sense very much that Australia is trying to be part of Asia. I live in Sydney and have seen multiculturalism change the face of the city over the last twenty years or so...much, much for the better in my opinion.

However its not down to me, or other Australians to say whether they believe they are part of Asia now. It is up to Asian countries to say they accept Australia - a big ask in my view given Australia's previous immigration policies.

Hence my question really.

Dear Sremmah,

Geographically, whether Australia is part of Asia or not is not that important but I am certain that Asia is the biggest trading partner as you can see the commodities at the supermarket or stores in all part of Australia.

BUT, YES (BIG) BUT THE WORDS SPOKEN BY PAULENE HANSON OF ONE WORLD PARTY STILL ECHO IN MY MIND.

It is very nature if you look superficially, they are not part of Asia.

Truthseeker

Dear Sremmah,

To me, whether Australia is part of Asia or not is a matter of 'political construct' and not a geographical fact. But does it matter? Since we are living in the age of globalisation the sense of 'national boundaries' and 'geographical location' is breaking down.

Have a look at Turkey's quest to become part of the European Union, don't you think it's somewhat like asking whether Auslralia is part of Asia?

It's better to learn to live with one another than identifying ourselves with this part of the world and that part of the world. All of us are merely 'visitors' of this mother earth and when the time comes eveyone of us has to leave, whether we want to or not.

One of the thing that I've learnt from one of my teacher is this, "We should leave the place in better condition than when we found it".

As fellow travellers in life's journey we should help each other, whether you're Australian or Asian, to reach our destinies with less impact on the earth as much as we can.

Maybe, the main question is not if Australia is in Asia or not, but if Australians feel them as Asians or something else.