We’re not insecure, Beijing tells Canberra

China has brusquely denied Beijing is ‘dogged by insecurity’ following a frank character assessment by Australia’s top diplomat.

China’s foreign ministry has brusquely denied Beijing is “dogged by insecurity” following a frank character assessment of Xi Jinping’s administration by Australia’s top diplomat.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also questioned a survey by the Lowy Institute that found only 16 per cent of Australians trusted Xi’s China to act responsibly in the world.

“Whether its conclusions are reliable remains a question,” he said.

The authoritative Lowy poll — based on a survey of 2,000 respondents and now in its 17th year — found two-thirds of Australians now view China as a security threat rather than an economic partner.

It was the third poll of Australian attitudes to China released in the last fortnight that revealed the sharp souring of sentiment in the last year, following the Xi administration’s campaign of economic coercion on Australian farmers and miners.

Australia’s top diplomat Frances Adamson on Wednesday said President Xi’s China had become an increasingly ideological country, suspicious of external threats.

“This siege mentality – this unwillingness to countenance scrutiny and genuine discussion of differences – serves nobody’s interests,” she said.

Australia’s top diplomat Frances Adamson. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Secretary Adamson — a former ambassador in Beijing — said Xi’s China had “a deeply defensive mindset” and was obsessed with “external threats”.

“Few really grasp that this great power is still dogged by insecurity as much as driven by ambition,” the departing head of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a farewell address.

She noted that officials in the Chinese system had to negotiate this same mixture of power and insecurity.

“I always find it useful to remind myself when faced with strident official representations that the pressure exerted outwards on other countries must also be felt within, at an individual level, by those subject to that system.”

Responding hours later at a press conference in Beijing, Foreign spokesman Zhao totally rejected Ms Adamson’s characterisation.

“The remarks of the Australian official couldn‘t be further from the fact,” Mr Zhao said.

The spokesman repeated Beijing’s long settled formula that the breakdown in relations was entirely the fault of the Australian government.

“I’d like to stress that since the latter half of 2017, China-Australia relations have experienced one serious setback after another,” he said.

“The crux is that Australia, in a breach of international law and basic norms of international relations, grossly interfered in China’s domestic affairs, hurt Chinese interests and wantonly placed restrictions on bilateral exchange and co-operation,” he added.

“The Australian side bears full responsibility.”

While the foreign ministry spokesman said he was suspicious of Lowy’s finding, the party-state controlled tabloid Global Times took the results more seriously.

The pugnacious outlet said the 21 per cent fall in the number of Australian’s who defined China as more of an economic partner than security threat “deserves attention”.

In an opinion piece without a byline, the Global Times added that “it may be difficult to reverse the Australian public‘s growing dissatisfaction and pessimism toward bilateral economic and trade relations.”