How Chinese-Australian views differ on AUKUS, Taiwan and Xi Jinping

Chinese Australians feel increasingly positive about life in Australia, but have markedly different opinions from the broader population on key issues such as a potential war over Taiwan, the AUKUS security pact and the threat of Russia.

There are now 1.4 million Australians of Chinese ancestry, or 5.5 per cent of the population, making the demographic increasingly important at both state and federal elections.

Anthony Albanese and Reid MP Sally Sitou celebrate Lunar new year in Burwood. Chinese Australians make up an increasingly important demographic.Credit: Dean Sewell

The Liberal Party’s review of its brutal 2022 election defeat found it was crucial to win back support among Chinese Australians, who turned against the party dramatically in key electorates as tensions between the two nations worsened. Areas with high numbers of Chinese-Australian voters continued to support Labor at the recent Aston byelection.

The Lowy Institute’s third annual Being Chinese in Australia report, released on Wednesday, found just 28 per cent of Chinese Australians consider China’s foreign policy a critical threat to Australia, compared to 65 per cent of the broader population.

Similarly, only a quarter of Chinese Australians see Russia as a critical threat compared to 68 per cent of all Australians.

The poll, based on a national survey of 1200 adults in Australia who identify as being of Chinese heritage, was conducted for the think tank by the Australian National University’s Social Research Centre between September and December last year.

It found Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is popular among the cohort, with 60 per cent saying they have confidence in him to do the right thing for world affairs. It also found 42 per cent of Chinese Australians have faith in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing for world affairs, four times higher than the total population but down 5 percentage points from the previous year.

A clear majority of Chinese Australians, 61 per cent, said they trust China “a great deal” or “somewhat” compared to only 12 per cent of the Australian population.

On the AUKUS trilateral security partnership, 27 per cent of Chinese Australians say they believe it will make Australia safer, significantly lower than the broader population (52 per cent).

If Taiwan was attacked by China, 36 per cent of Chinese Australians support Australia defending it compared to 51 per cent of the broader population.

In a significant shift, 62 per cent of Chinese Australians say they are concerned about the influence of the United States on Australian political processes, an increase of 26 percentage points over the past year.

Seven in 10 Chinese Australians say Australia should remain neutral in the event of a military conflict between China and the United States, compared to half the broader population.

An increased number of Chinese Australians regarded Australia as a “very good” or “good” place to live (92 per cent), up 9 percentage points from the previous year and 15 points since 2020 when polling began.

Almost one in two Chinese Australians (48 per cent) say that democracy is preferable to any other kind of government, an increase of 14 percentage points over the past year.

Across the three surveys to date, there has been a decline in the number of Chinese Australians reporting that they have been called offensive names, or physically threatened or attacked because of their Chinese heritage - one in five said they were called offensive names because of their heritage in 2022, down 10 percentage points from the first survey in 2020.

Report author Jennifer Hsu said it was a “very positive” sign for social cohesion that Chinese Australians feel increasingly connected to the broader Australian society.

She said it was clear Chinese Australians had a different threat perception level of China under Xi than other Australians, and that politicians would be wise to use careful language when talking about China.

The Liberal Party’s post-election review found that in the top 15 seats by Chinese ancestry, the swing against the party was 6.6 per cent compared to 3.7 per cent in other seats on a two-party-preferred basis.

“There is a particular need for the party’s representatives to be sensitive to the genuine concerns of the Chinese community and to ensure language used cannot be misinterpreted as insensitive,” the review found.

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