Xi Jinping’s man in Canberra warns: Taiwan’s return to China must not be denied
Xiao Qian, Xi Jinping’s top diplomat in Australia, is seeking to exploit the memory of World War II to push the Communist Party’s strategic aims over Taiwan.
Xi Jinping’s top diplomat in Australia has called on Anthony Albanese to uphold a “correct historical perspective” that Taiwan belongs to China, as he seeks to exploit the memory of World War II to push the Communist Party’s strategic aims.
Amid rising US concerns about a potential conflict with Beijing over Taiwan by 2027, Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian has invoked China and Australia fighting “side by side” against the Japanese in the 1940s to declare “Taiwan’s return to China must not be denied”.
Writing in the wake of the 80th anniversary of the end of one of Australia and China’s bloodiest modern conflicts, Mr Xiao claims one of the key outcomes of the war is that communist China – which took control of Beijing and the mainland four years after Japan’s surrender – has sovereignty over Taiwan.
“The recovery of Taiwan is a victorious outcome of Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and an important part of the post-war international order,” he writes in The Australian.
The ambassador’s use of World War II follows a speech last month by the Prime Minister during which he focused on Australia’s wartime prime minister John Curtin standing up to Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.
The Curtin Oration address sparked concerns in Washington, where US officials are reviewing the $368bn AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact and calling on Australia to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP “as soon as possible” to help thwart Chinese military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
After Mr Albanese last week said he would formally recognise a Palestinian state when he attends the UN General Assembly in New York in September, Mr Xiao cites a disputed UN resolution that he claims “affirmed there is but one China, the government of the People’s Republic of China”.
“Some seek to challenge the authority of UNGA Resolution 2758, calling Taiwan’s status ‘undetermined’, falsely claiming that the PRC has never governed Taiwan, and fudging and hollowing out the one-China principle,” Mr Xiao wrote in The Australian.
“To uphold the one-China principle, and to oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ and external interference, is an inevitable requirement for safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the foundation and prerequisite for ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and a just cause defending the outcomes of the victory in the Second World War and the post-war international order.”
Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung hit back at the ambassador’s interpretation of the UN resolution, pointing to the fact “the People’s Republic of China from 1949 has never ruled Taiwan for a single day”.
“The resolution is around 158 words, but none of these words have anything to do with Taiwan. Taiwan is not mentioned,” Dr Lin told The Australian in Taipei.
“I think it was the Australian parliament which first passed the resolution that rejected China’s claims on UNGA Resolution 2758 saying that it determined Taiwan’s status.
“And especially, starting from last year, the State Department of the US has continued and repeatedly expressed that we should refute these distortions by China.”
Beijing has sought to use the 1971 resolution, which recognises the People’s Republic of China as “the only legitimate representative of China to the UN”, to press its claim over the self-governed territory.
Australia does not formally recognise Taiwan but its one-China policy allows cultural and economic ties with the territory.
Labor and the Coalition joined forces last year in the Senate to formally condemn Beijing’s attempts to use the 50-year-old UN resolution to claim Taiwan as part of China.
The bipartisan motion moved by Labor senator Deb O’Neill and Liberal senator David Fawcett declared that the UNGA Resolution 2758 “does not establish the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the UN”.
The motion also said the UN resolution should not preclude Taiwan’s participation in UN agencies and organisations.
Just 12 countries recognise Taiwan formally, but Dr Lin said the territory “encompasses all the conditions of becoming a country … We have our own people, we have our own land, we have our government, and we are able to exercise our own sovereignty.
“So these claims coming from China, they’re kind of like fiction. It’s kind of like the emperor’s new clothes.
“Even if you tell the same lie for 100 times, it will not become the truth.”
Mr Xiao said “a nation that forgets its past cannot hope for a bright future … choosing one’s own path does not mean walking alone; China is ready to work with Australia and all peace-loving nations to uphold a correct historical perspective”.
“For too long, the enormous sacrifices made by the Chinese people, the historic contribution of China to the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, and the shared struggle of China and Australia have often been neglected or overlooked,” he wrote.
“The smoke of war may have long dispersed, but the glory of that struggle must never fade into oblivion.”
In 2024, Taiwan was Australia’s 12th largest two-way goods and services trading partner, with trade between the countries valued at $30.6bn.
Australia last year exported $20.4bn in goods and services to Taiwan, and the countries share mutual working holiday-maker arrangements.
The Australian last week revealed the Pentagon was aiming to integrate Australia and Indo-Pacific allies into a stronger collective defence framework focused on deterring Beijing and safeguarding Taiwan.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, US officials made clear plans to strengthen collective defence were an urgent priority in the lead-up to 2027.
In his Shangri-La Dialogue speech earlier this year, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said “Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”.
“It’s public that Xi has ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027. The PLA is building the military needed to do it. Training for it every day. And rehearsing for the real deal,” Mr Hegseth said.
Amid a civil war sparked by the rise of Mao Zedong’s Chinese Communist Party, Kuomintang forces under Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan in 1949 and established the Republic of China capital in Taipei.
The CCP established the People’s Republic of China, with Beijing as its capital.
The Australian government recognised the ROC until the commencement of diplomatic relations with the PRC in 1972. While not recognising the ROC as a sovereign state, Australia has a representative office in Taiwan.
The US Defence Department’s AUKUS review led by Elbridge Colby is investigating both Pillar 1, the provision of Virginia-class and AUKUS-class nuclear submarines, and Pillar 2, which is focused on the sharing of advanced defence technologies.
Senior US officials have rejected reports Mr Colby pressured the Australians and Japanese into making commitments to support the US in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan.
Ben Packham travelled to Taipei courtesy of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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