SYDNEY: As the first Western leader able to speak to the Chinese in their own language, Australia’s new prime minister could play a vital role as a central link to the growing Asian powerhouse, analysts say.

Labour Party leader Kevin Rudd, who ousted long-serving conservative prime minister John Howard in elections on Saturday, specialised in Asian studies and served as a diplomat in Beijing before launching a political career.

While Howard felt most at home with Western nations and was a staunch ally of US President George W. Bush, Rudd is likely to introduce a new era in relations with Australia’s neighbours in Asia, said analyst John Hart.

“Howard was an old world prime minister in a new world country. He had a sort of 1950s attitude to Asia which never really left him. Rudd will be more positive and forward looking,” Hart said.

Rudd’s ability to speak fluent Mandarin, which charmed and impressed Chinese President Hu Jintao during a visit to Sydney in September, was particularly significant, the Australia National University analyst said.

“Rudd is the first Western democratic leader who can speak to the Chinese in their own language. Any western leader will tell you the Chinese are notoriously difficult to deal with and I think language could make a difference.” If the United States was “willing to exploit and take advantage of this unique skill Rudd has it could be a boon not only for the US but for the rest of the western bloc,” he said.

“China’s role in world affairs is changing. It is not only the economic growth that is spectacular, but it is taking a more constructive role on the world stage.” It might seem a big call to see a language skill as so important in world affairs, but Chinese people both at home and abroad who have heard Rudd speak are particularly impressed by his fluency in the difficult tongue.

“The Chinese are influenced by the ability of Rudd to speak Mandarin, they’re very impressed with that,” said Tony Pang, president of the Chinese Australian Forum ahead of the elections.

Rudd is also expected to forge a different path from Howard both globally and within Asia, Deakin University’s Damien Kingsbury said.

“It was always clear that Howard was never entirely comfortable in the region and engaging these other political leaders was never his strength.

“Rudd will be much more comfortable in engaging with regional leaders.” When Howard’s government came to power in 1996 it was determined “to veer away from what they saw as a culturally apologetic approach to Asia,” the Sydney Morning Herald’s Asia-Pacific editor Hamish McDonald wrote on Saturday.

This led to a series of diplomatic missteps, including an early freeze in relations with China when the defence minister “started making belligerent statements about defending Taiwan,” McDonald said.

Howard’s government in its early years also alienated Asia’s other rising power, India, but the rapid economic growth of both countries later prompted Australia to work hard at repairing relations.

This saw Australia able to capitalise on Asia’s insatiable hunger for its abundant natural resources, and Howard went on to preside over an unprecedented economic boom driven by trade with the region.

But relations always clearly based on economic interests could be broadened under Rudd.

“I think there will be a change in attitude,” said Deakin University’s Kingsbury. “There will probably be a more engaged relationship with Asia, a more engaged dialogue that really opens up opportunities for better understanding.” In a possible sign of things to come, the first foreign leader to congratulate Rudd was not one of Howard’s Western allies but Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“It reflects how important the relationship between Indonesia and Australia is,” said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

Rudd told a news conference he had “emphasised to President Yudhoyono the absolute importance of a strong bilateral relationship between ourselves and Indonesia” and announced plans for an official visit to Jakarta early next year.—AFP