Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Xiao Qian addressed National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, where he spoke about the long-term of the Australian-Chinese relationship.
Mr. Xiao, who was appointed to his diplomatic post in January, delivered his speech against the backdrop of escalating tensions within the Taiwan Strait. Beijing launched unprecedented military drills within the Taiwan Strait within the South China Sea following Ms. Pelosi’s visit.
Mr. Xiao on Wednesday said her trip to Taiwan was a “serious violation of the one-China principle and violation of the provisions of the three China US-China communique”.
“Speaker Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan region in disregard of China’s strong opposition, making it clear to the world it absolutely was the US side who first took provocative action to vary and undermine the established order,” Mr. Xiao said.
“And it is the US side that should and must take full responsibility for the escalation of tensions within the Taiwan Strait.”
Australia earlier the week joined the US and Japan in condemning Beijing’s military exercises within the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has maintained its actions within the scope of safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity and has accused Australia of “violating the UN Charter”.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Australia was “grossly interfering” in China’s internal affairs and undermined regional peace and stability. Australia currently adheres to a one-China policy, meaning it doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but maintains unofficial contacts with Taipei promoting economic, trade, and cultural interests. Mr. Xiao said on Wednesday he hoped Australia would take the one-China principle “seriously”. He said earlier in his speech that he felt very strongly about upholding people’s expectations for a “stable and friendly” relationship between the two countries.
50 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
Mr. Xiao began his speech with an upbeat reflection on the 50-year diplomatic relationship between Australia and China.
“If you recall at the past 50 years, we have, indeed, made great achievements in developing our bilateral relations,” he said.
“Friendship and mutual trust are constantly enhanced.
“The progress in practical co-operation has been incredibly outstanding.”
Mr. Xiao said China had been Australia’s largest trading partner since 2009 and made up quite 34 percent of Australia’s total imports and export in 2021.
He noted that, since 2018, China had been Australia’s main provider of international tourists, with over 1,000,000 visitors spending over $10bn each year.
He said China continued to be the most important source of international students for Australia, accounting for about 28 percent of all international students in Australia.
DIFFICULTIES
Within the connection After highlighting the importance of economic cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Xiao said the link between Beijing and Canberra had become strained.
He said the connection in recent years had been “caught in an exceedingly difficult situation thanks to reasons known to all”.
“This has greatly impacted the bilateral exchange co-operation in various views and severely damaged the friendship between our two peoples,” he said “These are some things we didn’t want to see and it goes against the interests of our two countries and our two peoples.” But Mr Xiao said the change of national in Australia provided an opportunity to “reset” the link.
REPAIRING the link
Mr. Xiao spoke of the importance of both China and Australia taking steps to repair the link. He said he was encouraged by the restarting of diplomatic communications furthermore because of the recent meeting of the two nations’ foreign ministers on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Bali.
“These consensuses are significant for the long-term development of China-Australia relations,” he said.
“The positive progress in your bilateral relations is encouraging – is an encouraging start, and in the end, there’s lots of labor to be done.
“It’s vital for every side to make further efforts to remain the momentum, take actions for substantial progress, and to strive to bring our bilateral relations back on the proper track.”
Chinese secretary of state Wang Yi last month released an announcement detailing four “actions” by which Australia could improve its relationship with Beijing, after his meeting together with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong. Anthony Albanese said Australia “doesn’t reply to demands” when asked about the statement.
Mr. Xiao said on Wednesday disputed the concept that Mr. Wang‘s list had been one amongst demands, instead labeling it “proposals from the Chinese side”.
“It was proposals,” he said. “If you sit down with the Chinese version, it absolutely was hope and it’s not demanding as has been reported in certain media.”
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday that Australia wanted to stay up “the most effective relationship we can” with China.
“We would adore to figure out the link (with China) and be put in an exceedingly better place. While the govt. . has changed in Australia, our national interest hasn’t, which we’ll still speak up for our national interests,” he said. “We will do this without concern or favor.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton warned that tensions in China were at such a high level that, at “any stage”, the drills could escalate to a “full-scale incursion”.
His comments come as an enclosed review of the Coalition’s election loss suggested Chinese-Australian voters turned removed from the party due to the Morrison government’s anti-China rhetoric.
