Xiao Qian to be China’s ambassador to Australia

Beijing’s new man in Canberra will be Xiao Qian – currently ambassador to Indonesia.

Xiao Qian is well-regarded by international counterparts. His appointment might mark a ‘more sophisticated approach’ to Australia.

Xi Jinping’s new man in Canberra will be Xiao Qian – China’s current ambassador to Indonesia.

The Australian can reveal Mr Xiao’s nomination by Beijing to become ambassador to Australia has been agreed to by the Morrison government. He is said to be “smart” and “tough”, but is not yet known as one of Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomats.

Diplomatic sources said Mr Xiao was well-regarded by international counterparts, and suggested his appointment might mark a “more sophisticated approach” by Beijing to its engagement with Australia.

His impending arrival comes amid a fresh low in Australia-China relations, with Beijing ­accusing Australia of undermining regional peace with its nuclear submarine plans, and Defence Minister Peter Dutton declaring Australia would join the US in a war with China over Taiwan.

Mr Xiao will replace Cheng Jingye, who left Canberra without fanfare in October. Mr Cheng spearheaded Beijing’s campaign of economic coercion against Australia, alienating himself from the Morrison government and fellow diplomats in Canberra.

Mr Xiao has served in Indonesia since 2017, and was previously ambassador to Hungary.

He has also worked in South Korea, as China’s deputy representative on Korean peninsula affairs, and has had postings in the US, The Philippines and India.

“He is not a wolf warrior type,” a senior diplomatic source said, ­referring to the aggressive style of Chinese statecraft that has been increasingly adopted by the country’s ambassadors and ­foreign affairs officials. “He is known as a very smart diplomat, and a very tough negotiator. We will have to watch how he behaves under the current regime.

“It’s possible that Beijing is aware of the inefficiency of that (wolf warrior) style of diplomacy in Australia, and it may be that they are going to take a more sophisticated approach.”

While his record suggests Mr Xiao has a less confrontational style than Mr Cheng, he has strongly adhered to Beijing’s talking points on key issues.

In a September opinion article in the Jakarta Post newspaper, he suggested Covid-19 originated in the US, declaring America was “not being transparent, responsible and co-operative on this issue”.

“The timeline of the outbreak in the US has been backdated ­several times,” he wrote.

“Besides, the international community has long raised concerns over safety issues and illegal, non-transparent and unsafe practices at Fort Detrick, and corona­virus and genetic modification experiments by the Baric team at the University of North Carolina.”

He has also strongly defended China’s treatment of its Uighur Muslims – a sore point in China-Indonesia relations – defying evidence that the minority ethnic group is subject to detention, forced labour and sterilisation, and denied freedom of religion.

“The Chinese constitution protects the religious freedom of all its citizens, as well as the legal rights of all ethnic minorities,” he claimed last year.

Mr Cheng’s term as ambassador, since 2016, coincided with the collapse of Australia-China relations.

He was one of the first to raise the prospect last year that ­Australia could be economically punished by Beijing over its calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of the ­coronavirus.

The threat later became a ­reality, with more than $20bn in trade bans subsequently slapped on Australian exports, including beef, barley, lobsters, coal, copper and wood.

The Chinese embassy, under his leadership, also issued an ­extraordinary list of 14 grievances with Australia that were ­purportedly “poisoning bilateral relations”.

One of his last public events as ambassador was to host a staged event called “Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land”. “Any people, any country, should not have any illusion that China would swallow the bitter pill of interfering or meddling in China’s internal affairs trying to put so-called pressure on China,” he said. “We will not provoke, but if we are provoked we will respond in kind.”