Ministers call out Beijing’s conduct ahead of AUSMIN talks

Australia has blasted Beijing’s “coercive conduct” in the South China Sea and its human rights record in Hong Kong. | WATCH

Australia has blasted Beijing’s “coercive conduct” in the South China Sea and its human rights record in Hong Kong and suggested it is threatening the internet, ahead of high-level security talks with the US.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, writing in The Weekend Australian before departing for Washington DC on Sunday, flagged stronger co-operation with the US on China, taking aim at state-sponsored hacking, fake news and threats to freedom and sovereignty.

Senators Payne and Reynolds will meet their US counterparts, Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper, for the annual AUSMIN talks next week.

The talks come during unprecedented tension between the Trump administration and the Chinese government, with Mr Pompeo urging nations to stand up to China’s “tyranny” regardless of the economic costs.

In a speech on Friday morning Australian time, the US Secretary of State said it was “time for free nations to act”.

“Not every nation will approach the China challenge in the same way, nor should they,” Mr Pompeo said.

“Every nation will have to come to its own understanding of how to protect its national security, its economic prosperity, and its ideals from the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party. But I call on all nations to start by doing what America has done: to insist on reciprocity, transparency and accountability from the Chinese Communist Party.”

Senators Payne and Reynolds write that this year’s AUSMIN talks are the most important yet, flagging a series of agreements between the countries, including a new regional health plan to tackle infectious diseases and another to combat disinformation by “malicious actors” including nation-states.

A new infrastructure-focused development program to support regional economic recovery is also expected, together with agreements to step up military co-operation and the development of defence technologies, and strengthen supply chains for essential goods, including critical minerals and medical supplies.

Senators Payne and Reynolds say the meeting is being held at a “pivotal moment”, with the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating the most difficult set of strategic challenges the Indo-Pacific has seen for generations.

“Never has it been more important that we, as allies, sit down together and find every possible way to advance our shared interests,” they write. “Sweeping and vague ‘national security’ legislation imposed on Hong Kong has undermined the rights, freedoms and futures of millions of people.

“Coercive actions in the South China Sea, such as the escalation of disputes and militarisation of disputed features, continue to create tension that destabilise the reg­ion. Cyber attacks are on the rise, while authoritarian governments imperil hopes for an open, interoperable, reliable and secure internet.”

With the US-China relationship deteriorating, Beijing announced on Friday that it had ordered the closure of the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu in retaliation for the forced closure of its consulate in Houston, which the Trump administration said was a centre of espionage activity.

China’s consul-general in Houston, Cai Wei, was the deputy ambassador at China’s embassy in Canberra between 2015 and 2019.

In 2018 Mr Cai used a dinner with Labor MPs in Canberra to deny the CCP was trying to control foreign students studying in Australia, claiming he had too few education officers to do so.

The US will be seeking strong support from Australia at AUSMIN over China’s disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Mr Pompeo declared last week were illegal.

Scott Morrison has sought to differentiate Australia’s approach to China from that of the US, saying Australia will take “our own actions and our own initiatives”.

But in a video address on Friday, the Prime Minister said the Australia-US relationship had never been stronger or more important, and declared Australia always pulled its weight in the partnership.

“We are a trusted partner of the United States. We trust each other,” he told the United States Studies Centre. “And as I said to President Trump last year when we met, Australia looks to the US, sure. But we don’t leave it to the US. We do our share of heavy lifting in this partnership.”

Also speaking at the event, held to mark 15 years of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, former prime minister John Howard said that despite Australia’s “deeply held relationship” with the US, its ties with China were also vitally important. “China still remains our major export destination,” he said.

“And at a time when that relationship is extremely difficult, and there is a level of aggression by the Chinese in the context of that relationship … I hope all Australians remember just how critical the Chinese market is to Australia‘s economic future.”

US ambassador AB Culvahouse Jr said Australia and the US had an opportunity to build on their partnership through R&D and education, and securing high-paid jobs. A report released this week by Deloitte Access Economics found Australian exports to the US and the income generated from US investments in Australia contributes $131bn a year to Australia’s economy.

.@ScottMorrisonMP: Australia looks to the US, sure, but we don’t leave it to the US. We pull our weight.#AUSFTA #USSC_Live #auspol #USandAUS pic.twitter.com/4ee7v9Qvpr

— United States Studies Centre (@USSC) July 23, 2020

.@ScottMorrisonMP: Australia looks to the US, sure, but we don’t leave it to the US. We pull our weight.#AUSFTA #USSC_Live #auspol #USandAUS pic.twitter.com/4ee7v9Qvpr

— United States Studies Centre (@USSC) July 23, 2020