Australia-China diplomatic relationship the hot topic on Q&A

Australia’s diplomatic relations with China dominated discussion after the two nations exchanged blows over an inquiry into the pandemic.

Host Hamish Macdonald on Q&A.

International relations with global superpowers and smaller countries alike during the COVID-19 pandemic dominated discussion on ABC TV’s Q&A on Monday night after Australia went head-to-head with China over an inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak.

Threats of “economic coercion” were made by China’s ambassador Cheng Jingye that Beijing could boycott Australian agricultural products and stop sending tourists and students if the Morrison government persisted with its call for an independent review of the pandemic.

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Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Australia cannot disengage from a relationship with China despite tensions over an inquiry into the outbreak of COVID-19.

“There are differences at times between our interests and we have to constructively and productively navigate those differences,” Senator Wong said.

“What we can't do though is believe that somehow disengagement is an option,” she said.

Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove called the behaviour of Chinese representatives in Australia last week “appalling”.

“What if Australia's ambassador and consul-general behaved in China the way Chinese diplomats behaved in Australia?” he asked.

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Human Rights Watch Australia director Elaine Pearson said Australia should continue to stand up to China, which had shown it was a “bully”.

“I think part of the reason why the Chinese government has reacted so badly is because we very rarely see Australia's voice on issues in China,” she said.

“I think what Australia called for in terms of an independent investigation is what any responsible global power should want.”

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Liberal Wentworth MP Dave Sharma said “any international investigation is not about any one country” amid fears that it would unfairly chastise China and fail to recognise a mishandling of the virus in other countries like the US and Italy.

“Any international investigation is not about any one country,” he said.

“To my mind it would be like any investigation where you look at the causes of a crisis and the lessons you can learn for the future, including how you better prepare international institutions, international protocols, sharing information and mechanisms and that sort of thing.”

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Senator Wong defended comments made by Kristina Keneally in an opinion piece, calling for a migration program that put Australian workers first.

Senator Keneally’s weekend opinion piece in Nine newspapers said Australian workers should “get a fair go and a first go at jobs” in an overhaul of migration policy.

“I think the proposition Kristina Keneally was putting was that we need to rethink the balance between permanent and temporary migration and I think that's a sound point to be making,” Senator Wong said.

“We are a party that has stood against racism. We're a party that has stood for multiculturalism for many, many years consistently.”

Ms Pearson said the statement by Ms Keneally was “racist”.

“I think the framing of it was – and I am not sure if it was deliberate, it seemed like racist dog whistling and Australians found it problematic,” she said.

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A number of the panellists said in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Australia had forgotten about a number of human rights issues.

Mr Fullilove said China’s detention of Uighurs in detention camps was “shocking”.

“We have forgotten about that circumstance, as we have about many issues in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

“I think the Australian government has to do more.”

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Mr Fullilove said Australia must remain independent from global superpowers such as the US and China after their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the interesting things out of the pandemic has been the big superpowers like the US and China and even Europe have done quite poorly in many ways,” he said.

“Whereas the smaller countries, the more agile well-run countries like Australia and New Zealand and Taiwan and South Korea have done much better.

“If we can have a trans-Tasman bubble, if we can work more with some of those other effective well-run countries, a kind of coalition of the competent, I think that would be great.”

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Ms Pearson called for a “coalition of like-minded countries” such as Australia and New Zealand to deal with challenges like coronavirus in the future “to defend our interests” and “promote human rights and democratic values”.

But Senator Wong said that Australia should look to build stronger relationships with other countries instead.

“We do need to think about how we renew multilateralism, how do we renew international cooperation?” she said.

“We need, as a nation, it is in our national interests, to have a stronger focus on multilateralism and that will require, I think, renewal.”

The final question of the show led Senator Wong and Mr Sharma to exchange blows about the coalition’s climate change policy.

Senator Wong said Mr Sharma “dodged” the question about climate change and challenged him to respond.

“The question that was asked of Dave, which he's dodged, is if you can accept the science around COVID-19, why can't you accept the science of government around a climate?” she said.

Mr Sharma said: “We do.”