MPs’ visit to Taiwan worthwhile

There is no sensible reason why the Chinese government should take exception to the trip to Taiwan by a cross-party group of six Australian MPs. The group, including former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and others from the Liberal, National and Labor parties, left on Sunday. They are the first Australian MPs to visit Taiwan since the Covid pandemic and the onset of strained relations between Beijing and Canberra three years ago. The MPs are following a well-trodden path taken by lawmakers from the US, Japan, Canada, Europe and Britain. It would be unfortunate if Beijing used the visit as an excuse to backtrack on recent improvements in relations between Canberra and Beijing.

There is no equivalence between the backbench MPs’ trip and that in August by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which led to outrage in Beijing and a massive show of military force. As Anthony Albanese said on Saturday, it “is not a government visit”. It does not affect the bipartisan position held by both sides of politics in Australia “when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan”. What the five-day trip does, as Nationals MP and former Morrison government assistant minister Scott Buchholz emphasised, is “convey Australia’s desire to preserve peace in the Indo-Pacific region”. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the perilous cost in human life and economic pain of a hot war, he said. “Australia has many friends. Just because we are friends with Taiwan does not mean we can’t be friends with China.”

Beijing’s leaders, if they are prepared to respond with the maturity the bilateral relationship deserves, should understand. Australian parliamentary visits to Taiwan have been a regular feature of the debate over China’s future since Canberra switched diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China. Issues such as Taiwan’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade group, of which Australia is a founding member with the power of veto over new members, need to be discussed. So does progress on a bilateral free-trade agreement between Australia and Taiwan, our seventh-largest two-way trading partner. Singapore and New Zealand have negotiated trade agreements with Taiwan without affecting their relationship with Beijing. It is as much in China’s interests as Australia’s to ensure the MPs’ visit does not trigger a slanging match.