China’s new ambassador to Australia has offered an olive branch in the intense diplomatic dispute between the two countries, saying they should “meet each other halfway” and “look into the future”.
Xiao Qian, who arrived in Canberra in January after years of increasing tensions, said China attached “great importance” to the relationship and was willing to “actively develop friendship and cooperation with Australia”.
The intervention comes just days after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, accused China of a dangerous “act of intimidation” over a Chinese warship’s shining of a laser at a RAAF surveillance plane north of Australia last week.
China’s national defence ministry, in turn, accused the Australian defence force of “spiteful and provocative actions”.
Xiao said in a speech on Thursday that the healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations served the fundamental interests and “common aspirations” of people in both countries.
Given this year marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, he said, there was an opportunity to ease tensions.
“China is willing to work with Australia to meet each other halfway,” said Xiao, who previously was China’s ambassador to Indonesia.
He said the two governments should “jointly make efforts” to push the relationship back on “the right track”. They should “review the past” and also “look into the future”.
Xiao did not specify any tangible actions Beijing may take to get the relationship back on track – but clearly signalled he wants to talk.
Later, he told SBS World News and the ABC: “The diplomatic channel is open.”
Australian ministers have complained since early 2020 they have been unable to secure phone calls or meetings with their direct counterparts – although contacts have continued to occur at lower diplomatic levels.
The Australian government accuses Beijing of engaging in “economic coercion” by hitting a range of Australian export sectors with tariffs, bans or other sanctions in 2020 – some of which are being challenged at the World Trade Organization.
Both major political parties in Australia view the differences in the relationship with China as largely structural and therefore not something that can be fixed by adopting a different tone.
China is particularly sensitive to criticism about human rights and the crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong and Australia’s longstanding position against using force or the threat of force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control. In recent months, Beijing has ramped up its criticism of new or renewed groupings such as the Quad and Aukus.
Still, Xiao’s comments signalled a more open approach to dialogue, and contrast with a warning from his predecessor Cheng Jingye in April last year that Beijing would respond “in kind” if Australia followed other countries in imposing sanctions against its officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
On Wednesday, the former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop added her voice to calls for Australia’s foreign policy and national security to “always be, as far as possible, bipartisan”.
Bishop’s comments to the ABC’s 7.30 program follow growing attempts by the Morrison government to argue a point of difference with Labor over China in the lead-up to the May election. Politicisation of national security also triggered carefully worded pushback from the Asio chief, Mike Burgess.
Xiao was speaking at an event at the Chinese embassy in Canberra to present the family of the late New South Wales police force officer Kelly Foster with a medal honouring her bravery.
Foster died trying to save Chinese student Jennifer Qi in a whirlpool in the Blue Mountains in January last year. Qi also lost her life.
Xiao told the audience – which included senior Australian federal police and NSW police force representatives – that Foster had displayed “the warmth of great love and humanity that transcend race, culture and nationality”.
“China and Australia are far away from each other geographically, by thousands of miles, yet great love knows no national boundaries nor distance,” the ambassador said.
He said Foster’s “heroic act” had been widely reported in China, where millions of people “could feel the warmth, kindness and friendship of the Australian people”.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said the force felt the loss deeply.
“It is a testament to her courage that she went immediately to Jennifer’s aid without a second’s thought for her own safety,” Webb said.
Foster was posthumously awarded the Great Wall Commemorative Medal of China’s Ministry of Public Security. The national anthems of both China and Australia were played at the embassy event.
