Australian election pits incumbent Kevin Andrews against Tony Abbott . Abbott leads Liberal - National coalition , Abbot 's mentor is former PM John Howard . Rudd , a lifelong student of Chinese history and a fluent Mandarin speaker from his time as a diplomat in the Australian Embassy in Beijing in the 1980s , maintained he was simply speaking frankly , as befitted one of China 's `` zhengyou '' or `` true , critical friends . '' Rudd wants China and U.S. to map out new Asia - Pacific ` ` strategic road - map '' Abbott wants Australia - China relations to move to ` ` core values ''
Australian election pits incumbent Kevin Andrews against Tony Abbott . Abbott leads Liberal - National coalition , Abbot 's mentor is former PM John Howard . Rudd wants China and U.S. to map out new Asia - Pacific ` ` strategic road - map '' Abbott wants Australia - China relations to move to ` ` core values ''