Albanese denies going soft on China

The Opposition Leader has pushed back after senior government ministers accused him of softening Labor’s approach to China.

Anthony Albanese at the Planet Innovation facility at Box Hill in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: David Crosling

Anthony Albanese has defended his position on the China-Australia relationship, declaring he holds the same views as the Coalition on Taiwan, human rights abuses of Uighurs and Chinese claims over the South China Sea.

The Opposition Leader pushed back on Monday after senior government ministers accused him of softening Labor’s approach to China, labelling the political ­attack as “desperate (and) looking for a difference where there isn’t any”.

Mr Albanese said he stood with Taiwan against increasing military threats posed by China and accused Beijing of changing its posture.

“The international community have consistently said … Taiwan’s position needs to be respected. It’s an unambiguous position that the United States and the international community have,” Mr Albanese told Melbourne radio 3AW.

“It’s not in the interests of the international community to talk up conflict. But I’ve visited Taiwan and I’ve met with their democratically elected leadership. And that democracy should be respected.

“And there is a bipartisan position on Taiwan, on the South China Sea, on the Uighurs, on all of the human rights positions, ­because China has changed its posture in recent years.”

Senior government ministers attacked Mr Albanese last week after he urged Beijing to withdraw “some of the actions that have been taken to stop Australian products going to China”. China has imposed sanctions and bans on Australian exports including coal, wine, barley, seafood and timber.

The Labor leader said he had been clear that the China-Australia relationship would remain in a “difficult position” regardless of who won this year’s election.

“It’s China’s position that has changed, not Australia’s,” he said.

After last week pledging to balance Australia’s human rights concerns with maintaining economic ties with China, Mr Albanese said he accepted that China was operating concentration camps for Uighurs.

“It’s the same position as the Australian government’s position, which is that we stand up for human rights. We call out behaviour and abuses of human rights when we see it. There is abuse of human rights for Uighurs. And that is something that is of great concern,” he said.

In her Lunar New Year message released in multiple languages, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews encouraged people to come together and “celebrate the shared values that unite us all”.

“Values such as respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, commitment to the rule of law, and equality of opportunity for all – in turn allowing us to reflect on why Australia is the most successful multicultural nation in the world,” Ms Andrews said.

The clash between the Coalition and Labor over national ­security comes as a banned ­Chinese scholar on China-Australia relations labelled Mr Albanese’s position as “repetitions of the platitudes of the anti-China forces” and slammed Australian politicians for “instrumentalising the China issue for their political gains”. “Under heavy pressure from the US and some Western countries, including the anti-China ­elements in Australia, both the current ruling Liberal Party of Australia and the Australian Labor Party hold similar stances toward China,” Shanghai-based Professor Chen Hong wrote in the Global Times.

“They both replicate the cliches of ‘blaming China” to identify with Washington’s strategy. China should not “become a card to play in the Australian elections.”