Australia should ‘respect China’s sovereignty’ on Taiwan, ambassador says

China’s ambassador Xiao Qian says he hopes Australia will “respect China’s sovereignty” if it Beijing invades Taiwan.

In a wide-ranging press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, the envoy rejected that any military takeover of Taiwan could be described as an invasion because the Chinese government considers the democratically self-governed island a province of China.

“There is only one China and Taiwan is a province of China so this is a serious commitment from the Australian government over the past several decades and I am aware each and every government in this country has been reconfirming their commitment on this issue,” Mr Xiao told reporters.

“I hope that the Australian side would respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, would practice this commitment of a one-China policy in words, in deeds, and to support openly the peaceful reunification of China.”

Indeed, Australia has long supported a one-China policy on paper, but also holds deep diplomatic and trade ties with Taiwan.

The Albanese government has also condemned Chinese military exercises around the island, including its latest war-games in October simulating an invasion.

The thorny issue was just one of several Mr Xiao tried to brush over while spruiking 2024 as the year of bilateral normalisation between Canberra and Beijing after a turbulent decade.

He said the Australia-China relationship was “in a very good shape” but also at a “very critical period of time.”

“The year of 2022 was a year of stabilisation,” he said.

“This year, 2024, has been a year of consolidation, and improving relationship and it symbolised a complete turnaround of the relationship.”

China’s Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election in 2022 was the “year of the stabilisation” in Australia’s relationship with China. “As I mentioned in my remarks earlier, we experienced a difficult time for several years until two years ago,” Mr Xiao said at a media conference on Tuesday. “Since then, we have successfully changed that situation. “The year of 2022 was the year of the stabilisation when President Xi met with Prime Minister Albanese. “The year of 2023 was the year of immense improvement.”

Mr Xiao acknowledged “there will be differences ... even disputes on certain issues”, but said that there was room for the Australian and Chinese governments to navigate disagreeances.

“We will always manage our differences wisely and maturely,” he said.

But some issues are chasmic, such as China’s torture and enslavement of Uighurs in its Xinjiang province and the Chinese military’s recent firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Further, Australia has been rapidly expanding its defensive and offensive capabilities amid expectations of a large scale regional conflict next decade.

Defence Industry Pat Conroy has openly said Australia was in the midst of a “new Indo-Pacific missile age”.

Mr Xiao also played down concerns around Donald Trump’s plan to slap levies on foreign imports.

The US president-elect on Monday evening (local time) pledged to impose 25 per cent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent hike on existing tariffs on Chinese products.

Mr Trump has previously floated hitting Chinese imports with a levy of up to 100 per cent.

Australia would be impacted by any fallout from resulting trade tensions, the Treasury has warned.

Mr Xiao trod carefully when answering questions about Mr Trump, saying his government was “looking forward to engagement with the new administration at the appropriate time.”

But he did concede that international trade “needs to be seriously considered and discussed between China and Australia as to what are the fundamental interests of our two countries”.

“We are responsible for our own people,” Mr Xiao said.

“We have common ground and this has been the foundation for a good relationship over the decades, bringing so many benefits to our two countries and peoples and there are reasons to responsibly manage our relationship bilaterally so our people can benefit.

“There is no reason for us to compromise our respective national interests for the sake of a third party.”