The Editor,

Sydney Morning Herald.                                                                         April 12, 2008.

Alan Ramsey appears smitten by Kevin Rudd, asserting in his latest Opinion piece (‘Nelson’s even got his mum worried’, Herald, April 12) that ‘To publicly stand up to the Chinese, in their own capital, in their own language’ (over Tibet) ‘took courage’ and ‘leadership of the most dramatic kind’.

Now Alan might be right, but I was always taught that consistency in behavior is the most reliable indicator of character.

A month ago today, our dear leader breathlessly informed our Parliament that Israel was a ‘custodian of freedom’ in the middle-east. In his gushing speech, congratulating Israel on its 60th birthday, our Kevin uttered not a word about the history of human rights abuses inflicted by that nation on the people of Palestine: behavior since characterised by the UN Human Rights Commissioner as ‘genocide’.

And then, last week, having gleefully informed the assembled throng in Washington that ‘the US is an overwhelming force for good in the world’, mandarin-man casually offered George Bush a salute in acknowledgement of our ongoing role as America’s deputy sheriff in the Asia-Pacific, whilst diplomatically offering not a word of admonishment for its serial war crimes: from the Philippines to El-Salvador, Vietnam and Iraq.

Whilst I hope that Alan Ramsay is right about our modern Marco Polo, I suspect that his theatrical piece in Beijing says more about China’s long history of diplomatic patience and forbearance, as well as their pragmatic concern for our natural resources, than it does about Kevin Rudd’s ‘courage and leadership’.

John Richardson