Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd doesn’t seem to understand the paradigm shift of the Wikileaks release. His answer is more secrecy, less transparency and less democracy. He may find himself more shocked in the months and years ahead. Here’s hoping:
Kevin Rudd has suggested the United States “tighten things up a bit” following the publishing by WikiLeaks of confidential US documents.
The Foreign Minister also said Australia had a “robust” diplomatic relationship with China and would not contact Beijing to smooth over relations following the embarrassing leaking of a conversation he had with Hillary Clinton.
Mr Rudd was responding to revelations that while prime minister he warned the US Secretary of State in March 2009 that the world must be prepared to “deploy force” if China could not be integrated into the international system.
He said today such releases of diplomatic material could occur at any time and without prior warning from the United States.
“I think foreign ministers around the world from countries of all sorts of political traditions are scratching their heads a bit about this one at the moment. And I’m just being frank with you,” Mr Rudd said in Canberra.
“You’ve had recent reports concerning heads of government being accused of corruption, of being associated with the mafia, of…..urging the United States to go to war against particular countries……. it does create a separate and new dynamic,” he said.
“What now happens? I think rule number one for our friends in the United States is `how do you tighten things up a bit?”’
Mr Rudd also said diplomacy was a “robust” business and leaked documents were “part and parcel of the business of the relations between states”.