Australian Prime Minister John Howard's push to forge a closer alliance with the United States and his strong rhetoric on the war on terror have only added to his negative image among Asian voters and Asia at large.
As Howard campaigns towards a knife-edge October 9 election, he seems to be struggling to attract Asian voters who traditionally see centre-left opposition Labour as more sympathetic to Asia.
"I think they are more suspicious of the conservative government of John Howard, which is too pro-American," said Vincent Ho, deputy editor of Sing Tao, Australia's largest Chinese-language newspaper.
"The Chinese community is not pro-American," Ho said.
Sing Tao surveys Chinese voters at every Australian election and the results are always the same - they overwhelmingly vote Labor - and the country's largest Asian population looks set to again back Labor, headed by new generation leader Mark Latham.
Ho said the main reason behind the pro-Labour position by Australian-Chinese dates back to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when then Labour prime minister Bob Hawke allowed some 20,000 Chinese students to stay in Australia.
"The students and their families are the dominant population amongst the local Chinese community," Ho said. "They are grateful for being given the opportunity to live in Australia."
Another factor behind Howard's negative image among Asian voters is that, while his eight-and-a-half year old government has overseen higher immigration, many Asians remember Howard's 1988 call for a cut in Asian immigration and believe he failed to repudiate anti-Asian politician Pauline Hanson in the 1990s.
"Labour is far more friendly to Asia," said James Kwon, a 38-year-old Korean real estate agent, lunching in Sydney's bustling Chinatown.
"If Labour was in power there would probably be an increase in immigration and Australia would become more diverse. If they were to be elected I think they would be more multi-cultural."
Asia fondly remembers Australia's last Labour government from 1991 to 1996, with its "Asia First" foreign policy. Then prime minister Paul Keating declared "no country is more important to Australia than Indonesia".
In contrast, the negative impression of Howard among Australia's Asian voters is today reflected in Asia as it watches his government move closer to Washington and away from Asia.
Howard in 1999 characterised Australia as a US "deputy sheriff" in Asia, sparking regional criticism, and his staunch support for the US-led war on terror and the Iraq war only reinforces Asia's suspicions of his government, say analysts.
Comments by Howard in 2002 that pre-emptive action was a legitimate response to terror, and news in August that Australia would arm its fighter jets with long-range cruise missiles particularly worried Indonesia, Australia's nearest neighbour.
"I don't think people know much about Mark Latham but there is an anti-Howard feeling in political debate in Indonesia. Anything is better than Howard," said Harold Crouch, Indonesian expert at the Australian National University.
Crouch said this negative view of Howard started in 1999 when Australia led a UN force into East Timor to stop bloodshed by Jakarta-backed militia after East Timor voted for independence.
"The way Howard was portrayed here, accurately or inaccurately, was that he seemed to be rather arrogantly telling Indonesia what to do," Crouch said. "It started with East Timor and everything else aggravates that."
Howard has based his re-election campaign squarely on his security and economic management credentials. Many Asian business migrants have prospered under Australia's strong economy, interest rates at near 30-year lows and a real estate boom.
"Hong Kong business people, educated here and working here, they will back Liberals because of the economy," said Dr Jenny Lam, who runs a medical practice in Sydney's western suburbs.
But Lam agrees that the bulk of Chinese voters from lower socio-economic backgrounds will again vote Labour.
"I vote Labour. My family normally votes Labour," said Tim Chen, a 22-year-old university student. "Labour takes care of the poor. A lot of my family's friends are blue collar workers, they work in factories, and they will vote Labour," he said.
The Howard government has forged strong economic links with Asia and signed free trade deals with Singapore and Thailand and a multi-billion dollar gas deal with China.
But some Asians criticise his government for not forging cultural ties, saying a purely economic focus on Asia is not true engagement in the region.
"People in Asia believe there should be more than just business, they should cultivate friendships," said Henry Tsang, a Labour member of the New South Wales state parliament.
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