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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by