澳大利亚新外长

Kevin Rudd resigned as foreign minister of Australia last month saying he no longer had the support of the Prime Minister.

"The truth is I can only serve as Foreign Minister if I have the confidence of Prime Minister Gillard and her senior ministers. In recent days Minister Creen and a number of other faceless men have publicly attacked my integrity and therefore my fitness to serve as a minister in the government."

Following his resignation he forced a leadership battle with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In the wake of his overwhelming loss, Gillard has appointed Senator Bob Carr as the new foreign minister.

Since his appointment there has been much debate about whether he can fill Rudd's shoes.

Here in China, Rudd has been become famous as the Australian politician who can speak Chinese.

Mark Beeson is a professor in Political Science and International relations at the University of Western Australia.

He says Rudd's extensive knowledge of China has at times biased his approach to Australian-Chinese bilateral ties.

"The fact that Rudd does know a lot about China and considers himself to be an expert and doesn't often listen to the advice of other people when it comes to China; I think these are potential strengths but also some real weaknesses as well. And his reading of Chinese history leads him to believe that China is likely to become more assertive in the region and this is potentially problematic for Australia."

Bob Carr's appointment as foreign minister has caused some controversy in Australia as he was seemingly plucked from retirement to take up the post.

Professor Beeson says while Carr has an extensive political career in Australia it remains to be seen how he will perform in his new role.

He says however that he believes Carr will approach international relations in a more unbiased way than Rudd.

"I think his view is that Australia should become slightly more independent when it comes to carving out a foreign policy position and not automatically work in lockstep with the United States or anyone else for that matter when it comes to deciding those kinds of foreign policy issues. So I think there is some possibility that we may see a bit more public differentiation when it comes to the kinds of positions Carr might take and the sorts of things that Rudd had done before that."

The former New South Wales premiere will take up the post of Foreign Minister until the next federal election.

For CRI, I'm Emily Hennessy.