China questioned Australian Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese’s sincerity in improving bilateral ties after a group of Australian parliamentarians began a five-day visit to Taiwan on Sunday.
A six-member delegation of federal members of parliament (MPs) is currently visiting Taiwan on a five-day “goodwill mission.” The delegation comprises Labor MPs Libby Coker and Meryl Swanson, former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, Liberal National Party members Terry Young and Scott Buchholz, and Liberal member Gavin Pearce.
Although the trip has garnered media attention for being Canberra’s first government visit to the China-claimed island since 2019, PM Albanese downplayed its significance to reporters.
“There remains a bipartisan position when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan,” he told the media on Saturday.
On being prodded about the delegation’s intentions, he simply said: “I have no idea, I’m not going. You should ask them.”
He dismissed the importance of the visit by saying that "There have been backbench visits to Taiwan for a long time” and that this was just “another one.”
He also attempted to recuse his government of any responsibility or involvement, emphasising that “This isn't a government visit.”
However, Chinese state-owned media outlet Global Times (GT) said that the leader’s “vague” remarks “will undoubtedly encourage the arrogance of anti-China forces and pro-Taiwan secessionist forces in Australia.”
To this end, it raised questions on Canberra’s “sincerity on improving its relations with China.”
Fairly bog standard response from China's Foreign Affairs Ministry spox when asked about the delegation of Australian MPs visiting Taiwan: Australia should abide by the One China principle, not send the "wrong message" to Taiwan and stop any form of "official communication" pic.twitter.com/56BfLv8yrp
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) December 6, 2022
Chen Hong, the president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and the director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told GT that even though Australia’s “tripartite system” does not give Albanese powers to block such moves by lawmakers, he could have “explicitly expressed his opposition to the visit, calling it an inappropriate behaviour.”
The academic further argued that the trip was “definitely not a people-to-people visit, as it includes senior politicians” that will meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior officials, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu.
He slammed the visit for “echo(ing) the pro-Taiwan secessionist forces in Australia and the world” and attempting to “hollow out the one-China principle.”
GT concluded that the lawmakers’ trip indicated that there were “anti-China forces trying to obstruct the improvement” of bilateral ties “at a time when ties are moving toward detente.”
Meanwhile, both Labor and the Coalition MPs have pledged support to abide by the one-China policy.
"We appreciate that the Australian parliament is very friendly to Taiwan," Ou said, describing Taipei-Canberra relations as "robust, diverse, and mutually beneficial."
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 6, 2022
Clarifying that the delegation was not visiting the island to “antagonise” China, Joyce stated that the MPs wanted “to make sure that we are both close to mainland China and also close to Taiwan.”
Nevertheless, the visit could undo some of the limited progress that has been made in mending ties since Albanese came to power.
Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and noted that both sides have “maintained effective communication and contact in recent times” and that with “unremitting efforts,” their ties had “witnessed positive changes.”
She also pledged Australia’s continued adherence to the one-China policy and expressed hope to develop “more stable and mutually beneficial relations” with China.
Meanwhile, Wang agreed that their “common interests… far outweigh the differences.” He noted that an “easing and improvement” of their relations would serve their “fundamental interests,” as well as those of the international community.
Soon after, Albanese also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali. The pair agreed that it is “imperative to rise above disagreements, respect each other and seek mutual benefit.”
Albanese assured that his government will “act in the spirit of mutual respect and equal-footed cooperation,” and work “to narrow differences through constructive and candid dialogue and communication” to further “cooperation on important issues such as climate change, economy and trade.”
Although both sides have continued to clash on national security issues, such as China potentially looking to set up a military base on the Solomon Islands as part of a security deal between Honiara and Beijing, recent bilateral meetings have indicated that the tensions created by trade and diplomatic disputes under the Morrison administration have thawed slightly.