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Australia's success in avoiding a recession was partly the result of strong economic growth in China. This emphasised the importance of Australia's relationship with China for its future economic prosperity. The detention of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu by Chinese authorities revealed a darker side to this relationship. Cartoonists were quick to highlight the complexities of living with our northern neighbour.

A colour cartoon depicting a large red dragon operating a large yellow mining backhoe. The dragon spills out of the cabin of the backhoe. It holds a lever in its left hand. Its head is poised just in front of the backhoe's bin, which appears to contain coal. The dragon has its mouth wide open, as though it's about to empty the contents of the bin into its mouth. A large, dark pile of what appears to be more coal is in the left corner of the cartoon. - click to view larger image
'Chinalco seeks to control both supply and demand of Rio Tinto ore' by Ian Sharpe
A colour cartoon depicting Chinese president Hu Jintao as a large red octopus. His head sits upon the tentacles. Each tentacle has text upon it and is clutching an object or an Australian politician. The text on the tentacles says 'Photographing John Howard with Helen Liu', 'Making Donations', 'Buying Australian companies', 'Capturing Joel Fitzgibbon', 'Selling US flat screen TVs', 'Checking Kevin's emails', 'Terrifying the Australian Newspaper' and 'Teaching Kevin Rudd Mandarin'. - click to view larger image
'Hu Jintao' by Ward O'Neill
A black and white cartoon depicting an Indigenous man reaching into a rubbish bin and a non-Indigenous woman and man sitting on a park bench. The man sitting on the bench is reading a newspaper which has the word 'Tibet' on the front page and saying 'Bloody Chinese ... deliberately displacing an entire culture! What sort of people are they?' The woman is looking with concern at the Indigenous man who holds a bottle in his right hand, is surrounded by a cloud of flies and has a skinny dog near his right foot. - click to view larger image
'What sort of people are they?' by Rolf Heimann
A colour cartoon depicting a white man and woman sitting at a bus stop. Both are looking at a poster in the bus stop advertising Bonds singlets. An Asian man is in the poster, wearing a white singlet. A label to the side of his torso reads 'Chesty Bond'. The word 'Bonds' appears under him; under that are the words 'Made in China'. The woman at the bus stop is saying 'Where's Chesty and who's he ... one of these new "Pacific Brands"?' - click to view larger image
'Pacific brands' by Dan Boermans
A colour cartoon depicting an Australian mine worker and a Chinese businessman standing on a platform of earth in an open-cut mine. The mine worker wears dirty yellow overalls and a hard hat. The Chinese man wears a suit and hard hat. He has a rolled up document under his left arm. The two men are standing facing each other. The mine worker is saying 'We don't want the bloody Chinese running RIO!' The Chinese man replies 'Better than the bloody Poms, mate!' In the background are two long lines of large heavily laden mining trucks emerging from the mine. Each truck is laden with what appears to be iron ore. - click to view larger image
'Better than the bloody Poms, mate!' by Peter Nicholson
A black and white cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd wearing traditional Chinese clothing in a series of Tai Chi positions. The top left image has the words 'Tai Chi with Kevin' written in the top left corner. The words 'Beginning movement' are written to the left of the image. Mr Rudd is shown facing the viewer with his arms stretched out in front of him. In the bottom left image the words 'Single whip' are written in the left side. Mr Rudd is seen with his left hand in front of him and his right arm extended behind him. The top right image has the words 'White stork spreads wings' written in the left side. Mr Rudd is seen holding his left leg out in front of him. His right arm is held up at head height while his left arm is held down near his left hip. The bottom right image has the words 'Hu Jintao bow' written on the left side. Mr Rudd is shown bending over backwards to the extent that his head is coming up between his legs. - click to view larger image
'Tai chi with Kevin' by David Rowe
A colour cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd sitting on a bench outside what appears to be a Chinese take-away restaurant. A Chinese state official in a green uniform is reaching over a low wall, handing Mr Rudd a plastic bag that contains what appears to be Chinese food in the shape of Australia. On the outside of the bag is written 'The Special Relationship'. On the wall is a menu, upon which is written 'No Free Speech', 'No Free Trade Unions' and 'No Free Elections'. In the background two other Chinese state officials can be seen carrying a man toward what appears to be a prison cell. The man has 'Stern Hu' written upon his back. At the top of the cartoon is written 'Sweet and Sour Takeaway'. - click to view larger image
'Sweet and sour takeaway' by John Spooner
A black and white cartoon depicting a panda bear and a koala. The panda bear is considerably larger than the koala. The koala is facing the panda bear, saying 'Me ol' china plate'. The panda is replying via a megaphone it's holding. A speech balloon near the panda's mouth has the words 'Get Stuffed!' in it. The blast from the megaphone is blowing the koala backwards off its feet. The words 'Megaphoney Diplomacy' are written at the left of the image. - click to view larger image
'Get stuffed!' by Vince O'Farrell
A colour cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd standing in front of a whiteboard. He holds a red book under his left arm and is gesticulating toward the whiteboard with his right hand. He is saying 'Don't mention these and we can save face!' On the whiteboard is written the following: 'Falun Gong, Tibet, One-child policy, Capital punishment, Chinese Uyghurs, Melb. Int. Film Festival, Internet Censorship, Economic Links with Sudan, Freedom of the Press, Communist Dictatorship, The Fact That Poh May Not Win Masterchef, Religious Freedom, Lip-Syncing Girl From The Opening Ceremony, Ping Pong Originated In England In The 1880s, Margaret Fulton's 80s Recipe For Chop Suey, Wierd [sic] Fluoro Glug In Cantonese Food, MSG & Hu!' - click to view larger image
'Don't mention' by Matt Golding
A colour illustration depicting a stylised red Chinese dragon. The dragon is seen side on, facing the left side of the image. It has a long, curved body. A briefcase and a pair of glasses can be seen on the ground under the dragon. A large lump in the dragon suggests it has just eaten a business person. The dragon appears to be flossing its teeth with a red and white striped tie. - click to view larger image
'Let's do lunch' by Pat Campbell

Explore more 2009 cartoons

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