Beijing’s top diplomat issues warning as Chinese warships head towards Perth
China’s top diplomat has suggested the Albanese government’s ban on AI app DeepSeek is ‘overstretching’ the use of national security, politicising trade and undermining global technological progress.
China’s top diplomat in Australia has suggested the Albanese government is “overstretching” the definition of national security risk with its ban on artificial intelligence app DeepSeek, amid rising tensions between the two countries just weeks out from a federal election.
As a group of Chinese warships on Sunday tracked closer to Perth, Xiao Qian warned that Australia and other countries using national security to restrict access to DeepSeek were politicising trade and undermining global technological progress.
The intervention by China’s ambassador to Australia follows an announcement by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to ban DeepSeek from all government systems and devices after intelligence agencies assessed the software posed an “unacceptable risk” to national security.
The Albanese government, which has also banned public servants from using the Chinese-owned TikTok on official devices, did not apply restrictions for private users, but urged them to “ensure they are well informed about how their data can be used online”.
Writing in The Australian, Mr Xiao said “small yards with high fences will only lead to self-isolation” and that “openness and co-operation are the only viable option” for Australia.
“DeepSeek’s application will greatly benefit the world in various aspects. Taking restrictive measures against it under the pretext of ‘security risks’ is an attempt to overstretch the concept of national security and politicise trade and tech issues,” Mr Xiao wrote.
“This would hinder technological progress worldwide and is detrimental to global economic recovery and development. Decoupling and severing of supply chains have no future, and building “small yards with high fences” will only lead to self-isolation.”
Under pressure from the Coalition over his response to a People’s Liberation Army Navy task group conducting live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea and circumnavigating the Australian coastline, Anthony Albanese on Sunday attacked the Morrison government for being softer on China.
In a pre-election move that could spark retaliation from Beijing, the Prime Minister said his government would always stand up in “Australia’s national interest”.
“In 2019 on Scott Morrison’s watch, there were Chinese warships, not around the coast, in Sydney Harbour. Pulled up to Garden Island there, given the welcome mat. In 2022 there were surveillance ships from China off the coast of Western Australia. There was … no monitoring whatsoever by the former government,” Mr Albanese said.
“And of course, the former government are the mob who leased the Port of Darwin – our most important northern port – to a company that directly has links with the Government of the People’s Republic of China. And then one of their ministers, of course, went to serve on the board of that company.”
Despite Beijing being linked to industrial-scale cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure in Australia and other western nations, Mr Xiao defended DeepSeek by claiming “China extremely prioritises data security in AI development”.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to data security and has always adhered to the rule of law in protecting data. It has never required, nor will it require, companies or individuals to collect or store data illegally,” he wrote.
“DeepSeek not only implements privacy policies that comply with the most stringent international standards but also clearly outlines the location and methods of data storage. The company uses advanced data encryption and anonymisation technologies to ensure that user data is not misused, earning high praise from AI experts worldwide, including those from Australia.”
Mr Xiao, who marked three years in the post in January and recently told The Australia that Australia must “respect Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea”, is being tipped to remain in his current job until following the upcoming federal election.
Security experts have raised a number of warnings about the breakthrough app, with some drawing parallels to threats posed by Chinese 5G technology that led to bans on high-risk vendors including Huawei. Top fears include DeepSeek accessing and sharing customer data with the Chinese Communist Party under the country’s national security laws. Other nations, including Taiwan and Italy, have blocked access to the DeepSeek app.
DeepSeek sparked a sharemarket bloodbath earlier this year after the company behind the software claimed it had been developed with a fraction of the computing power of US rivals.
Mr Albanese considers the thawing of relations with Beijing following the 2022 election as one of his government’s top achievements. All trade bans unfairly imposed on Australian products during the Morrison government have now been removed and Mr Albanese in late 2023 became the first Prime Minister since 2016 to visit Beijing.
While the relationship has stabilised, Beijing officials remain wary of the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact and Quad security dialogue. Adding to anxieties is Donald Trump’s return, with trade tariffs and foreign policy realignment up-ending the world order.
With both vying to win support from Australian-Chinese voters in key Sydney, Melbourne and Perth seats, Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton are trying to strike a balance in their criticism of aggressive behaviour by Mr Xi’s CCP government.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the Coalition, which has framed Mr Albanese’s response to the Chinese warships and previous targeting of Australian Defence Force personnel as weak, would not backdown from Chinese government aggression.
Seeking to win back Chinese-Australian voters who the Coalition lost at the 2022 election, Senator Paterson said “we should be measured and confident in our dealings with the Chinese government because we have many significant equities in this relationship”.
“The trading relationship is mutually beneficial, and we want that to continue and grow as much as possible because it is beneficial to Australian businesses and exporters and farmers and others. It’s just as beneficial to Chinese consumers as well,” Senator Paterson told the ABC.
“We want a strong relationship with China, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to allow them to walk all over us. That doesn’t mean we’re going to allow them to intimidate us. It doesn’t mean we’re going to allow them to coerce us. Because our responsibility is to stand up for Australia.”
Ramping-up pressure on the Albanese government, Peter Dutton on Sunday announced a Coalition government would spend $3bn on an extra 28 F-35 joint strike fighters. Mr Dutton is also preparing an election policy to lift defence spending above Labor’s current trajectory.
On Sunday morning, the Chinese naval warships, including a Jiangkai-class frigate, Renhai-class cruiser and Fuchi-class replenishment vessel, were 570 nautical miles (1055km) southeast of Perth. Defence officials last week revealed that a Virgin pilot had first sounded the alarm on China’s live fire drills 40 minutes after the exercise window began.
The government insists the task group has and is being closely surveilled.
Mr Albanese on Sunday refused to shed light on whether he had been warned about the warships by PNG, after the country’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko revealed China had given them advance notice of the ships presence.
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