Richard Marles to China: you have it ‘totally wrong’
Richard Marles will spotlight concerning behaviour by China’s military, defying requests by Chinese officials to create a ‘positive atmosphere’ before a rare visit by Premier Li Qiang.
Defence Minister Richard Marles will tell his Chinese counterpart that Beijing’s bullying of The Philippines, intimidation of Taiwan, harassment of Australian military personnel and support of Vladimir Putin is destabilising the region and sinking trust in China.
In a speech to be delivered on Saturday at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the Deputy Prime Minister will try to offer Beijing reassurance that Australia and its allies harbour no “indelible hostility to China”.
“There has been a view, sometimes expressed by Chinese officials, that the West is asking China to help defeat Russia so it then has a freer hand to defeat China itself,” he will say, according to an advance copy of his speech. “This view is reliant on the idea of indelible Western hostility to China. That is totally wrong. The economic rise of China has raised hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. In the process it has been a source of economic prosperity for many countries, including Australia.”
But Mr Marles will also address a host of disagreements Canberra continues to have with Beijing, defying requests by Chinese officials to create a “positive atmosphere” before a visit by Premier Li Qiang in a fortnight.
Mr Marles will spotlight aggressive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea, “such as the use of water cannons and the ramming of Philippine vessels”, and Beijing’s military intimidation of Taiwan.
“PLA exercises that practice attacks and blockades of Taiwan do not inspire confidence that China prioritises – or is planning for – a peaceful settlement to the status of this island and its 22 million people,” he will say.
And in front of an audience of senior defence figures from around the world, he will cite Australia’s recent experience with “unsafe and unprofessional behaviour” by the PLA Navy and the PLA Air Force, which has “posed a serious risk of injury to our personnel, while they were enforcing UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea”.
Mr Marles is expected to meet Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun at the forum. That would continue the high-level political communication that Beijing allowed to restart after the election of the Albanese government two years ago.
This week, China lifted its black-listing of all but two of the Australian beef abattoirs it had blocked during trade strikes on the Morrison government. A ban on imports of Australian live lobsters is also expected to be lifted around the time of the Chinese Premier’s visit.
Those goodwill efforts have been partially overshadowed by other Chinese government actions, including a Hong Kong court’s sentencing this week of Australian citizen Gordon Ng, a pro-democracy activist.
Beijing’s support of Russia’s war-fighting economy has also frustrated Canberra and its allies. Putin visited President Xi Jinping in Beijing a fortnight ago, accompanied by Russian defence and security officials.
On Saturday, Mr Marles will say China faces a pivotal decision in its position on the Ukraine war: “Making clear – in word and deed – that it does not support the invasion of a sovereign country in violation of the UN Charter. The importance of this cannot be overstated … A stable and sustainable regional order will be impossible without a leading Chinese role.”
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