|
January 19, 2024
Coalition demands PM rules out joint military exercises with China after sonar incident
The Albanese government needs to swiftly rule out joint military exercises with China, the Coalition says, after Beijing's top diplomat used a rare media appearance to voice his hopes for the future of the bilateral relationship.
The Coalition has also chastised Beijing for its suggestion that Japan was to blame for a sonar pulses incident that injured Australian navy divers last November, with the opposition's home affairs spokesman James Paterson saying such a suggestion was "ridiculous in the extreme".
China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, spoke for more than two hours on Wednesday, during which he dismissed the idea a Chinese ship had been to blame for the incident.
"They (the Chinese) didn't initiate the so-called sonar against the divers from the Australian side," he said.
"Should they have initiated the sonar from the Chinese ship against the divers it would cause immediate fatality." Foreign Minister Penny Wong overnight said it was Mr Xiao's "job" to advocate for his country.
"What I would say about that incident is we stand by the assessments of the ADF and the representations we made," she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said he stood by the comments his government made at the time.
"I'm not swayed by the (ambassador's) comments," he said.
Senator Paterson went a step further, criticising Mr Xiao.
"One of the problems of being a Chinese diplomat abroad is that you have an audience of one, and that's an audience at home and that's (president) Xi Jinping. And everything you say and do is about pleasing that audience, not the host country who you're trying to influence," he said. "That leads you to say utterly absurd things that completely undermine your credibility as a diplomat." China's envoy to Australia had also spoken about how a stronger defence relationship was crucial if the bilateral relationship was to be one of "full trust" and called for a return of joint military exercises.
But Senator Paterson questioned how Australia could conduct joint military exercises with China if Beijing could not take ownership of the incident.
"I'm deeply sceptical that closer military relations or joint exercises with the Chinese Communist Party is possible in the current strategic environment given their posture in the world," Senator Paterson said. "I hope that the Albanese government swiftly rules this out."
