It’s 18 years since a Chinese ambassador last took up an invitation to appear at the National Press Club in Canberra. That was five ambassadors ago.
Two years ago, the deputy head of mission, Wang Xining, turned up to spar with Australian journalists. He was combative but could also make his point from him by quoting Shakespeare, and rarely went beyond the official party line. After all, he wasn’t Beijing’s top diplomat in town.
It’s a long time since China’s most authoritative voice in Canberra had agreed to front the press. Until yesterday.
Ambassador Xiao Qian didn’t come with poetic quotes or clever lines that could be interpreted one way or another. This was raw and revealing.
In his prepared remarks, Xiao made a token effort to encourage further progress in repairing ties.
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There were references to how “friendly” relations had been over the past 50 years. There were reminders of how much trade has grown (and how relevant Australia has become on China economically).
Once the questions began, however, it became very clear just how uncompromising China would be on the core issues causing such difficulty in the relationship, particularly the big one — Taiwan.
Hope for change… and a reality check
The change of government in Australia raised some hope of a relationship reset. The two countries’ defense ministers met, followed by the foreign ministers. This was more dialogue than had occurred in years.
Then came Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and a reality check.
China’s extraordinary military reaction, involving ballistic missiles, fighter jets and warships, prompted condemnation from the United States, Japan, Australia and others. This, in turn, prompted condemnation from Beijing, urging everyone to butt out of its “internal” affairs.
At the Press Club podium in Canberra, Xiao defended the show of military might, saying Pelosi’s visit had “compelled” China to respond.
He suggested the people of Taiwan wanted reunification with China, ignoring numerous opinion polls which he said were “misleading”. Fake news, as Donald Trump might say.
China would use “all necessary means” to bring Taiwan back to the fold and “you can use your imagination” as to what that might involve. Of course, no-one really needs to use their imagination, after the military display of the past week.
In case there was any doubt, the ambassador said there was “no room for us to compromise” on Taiwan.
One of the most revealing moments came in response to a question about what would follow Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland.
Once that happened, Xiao said: “There might be a process for the people in Taiwan to have a correct understanding of China about the motherland.”
A process to “correct understanding” sounds a lot like the “re-education” forced upon the Uyghur people, even if the ambassador rejected that particular phrase.
The differences run deep
On the detention of Australian citizens Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun, China’s ambassador insisted “their basic rights are protected, so don’t worry about that”. Those “basic rights” apparently don’t involve any transparency around the charges, trial or potential sentences facing the Australians. The Australian government remains deeply concerned.
On the trade sanctions China has imposed on Australian exports, the ambassador preferred not to call them “sanctions”, but he did signal some willingness to negotiate their removal, as long as Australia was willing to overturn its ban on Huawei.
There was a spray at the Australian media for not being more “positive” in its coverage of China, yet no sign Australian journalists would be allowed back into the country to report freely.
And there was no real attempt to explain why China was refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, given its repeated calls for everyone else to respect sovereignty. It’s “complicated”, it was all the ambassador would offer.
Over the course of nearly 90 minutes on stage, Xiao made it clear why the relationship with Australia was so strained. The differences over Taiwan, trade, the detention of Australian citizens and Putin’s actions in Ukraine are profound. There will be no easy resolution.
Back in 2004, the last Chinese ambassador to address the Press Club, Fu Ying, raised Beijing’s concerns about any move towards independence in Taiwan, but wasn’t talking about departing from the status quo. She certainly wasn’t talking about forcing re-unification using “all necessary means”.
And as for China’s relationship with Australia at the time, Fu was optimistic “our two countries have no fundamental conflict of interest.”
Much has changed in the 18 years between ambassadors turning up at the Press Club.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on ABC iview.
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