China has conveyed its disapproval to Australia over a visit to Taiwan by former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, a Beijing diplomat said, with the trip threatening to undermine efforts by both nations to improve relations ahead of a state visit later this year.
Speaking at an Asia Society event in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian (肖千) said Morrison’s visit to Taiwan was a “serious concern” and hoped that Australian politicians would be “sensitive” to China’s views.
After years of diplomatic tensions, relations between the two major trading partners have normalized ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s planned visit to Beijing later this year, but trips to Taiwan by Australian politicians could derail the warming ties.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Morrison met with President Tsai Ing-wen at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Tuesday, where he delivered a speech saying that Australia would “always be great friends with the people of Taiwan.”
Just last month, a delegation of Australian lawmakers visited Taiwan.
China’s envoy yesterday said that he wanted to see the relationship between Australia and China develop even further, adding the common ground between the two nations is greater than their differences.
“We want to move beyond stabilization and to further improve our relationship,” Xiao said.
Relations between Australia and China reached their lowest point in 2020, after Morrison, who was the then-prime minister, called for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19 — a politically sensitive issue for Beijing. In response, the Chinese government imposed trade sanctions on a range of Australian exports, including heavy tariffs on wine and barley.
Following the election of Albanese’s center-left Labor government in May last year, Australia and China saw a significant improvement in their relations. High-level ministerial meetings between the two nations restarted, while a number of sanctions on Australian exports were lifted.
Albanese is expected to visit Beijing before the end of this year, a trip scheduled to mark 50 years since the first visit of an Australian prime minister to China in 1973.
Asked about growing concerns over the state of the Chinese economy, Xiao said the worsening data was only temporary and that the overall trajectory of the nation’s growth is positive.
“Australia should have confidence in China’s economy, and should have confidence in trade relations, economic relations between the two countries,” he said.
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