US ambassador blasts China over grievances against Morrison government

Arthur Culvahouse has caned China over its list of gripes against Australia, amid signs of a thaw in chilled relations.

US Ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse. Picture: Gary Ramage

US ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse has slammed China’s embassy in Canberra, saying a list of Beijing’s 14 grievances against Scott Morrison’s government was undiplomatic.

Last week, an unofficial list of grievances from the Chinese embassy attacked Australia’s MPs for speaking out against China, unfavourable media coverage of Beijing, and recent anti-foreign interference laws.

Mr Culvahouse said in Brisbane – standing alongside Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton – that the list suggested Australia was standing up for its national interest.

“That’s an interesting list ... I think that list is reflecting instances of the government of Australia standing up for its own interest, and furthering the national interest of Australia,” he said.

“You would never see a United States embassy give such a list to a reporter in Australia.

“That is not the way to do diplomacy and it’s not the way that one should deal with concerns, it should be done government to government. That sort of interference I don’t think you would see from the United States.”

The Australian approached the Chinese Embassy for a response.

Signs of thaw in China deep freeze?

Beijing has acknowledged Scott Morrison’s “positive comments” about China in a sign the seven-month diplomatic spat with Australia’s biggest trading partner may be cooling.

“China noticed Prime Minister Morrison’s positive comments on the global influence of China’s economic growth and China’s poverty alleviation efforts,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Tuesday evening in Beijing.

“We hope Australia will make independent, objective, sensible choices that serve its own interests,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said at a daily press conference.

Those comments were a notable change from the bombastic tone Chinese foreign ministry has used about the Morrison government since April when it enraged Xi Jinping’s administration by Australia’s championing an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

The Morrison government has been implored by the business community, Labor Party and state governments to repair relations with China, the source of $149b of exports in 2019.

China’s rhetorical attacks and trade threats have escalated since the US election.

Last week China’s embassy in Canberra circulated a one-page note listing 14 well known grievances with Australia.

That intervention subsumed a speech last week by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg at The Australian Strategy Forum that praised China’s economic handling and coronavirus management.

On Monday, Mr Morrison offered another rhetorical olive branch, using a keynote foreign policy speech to say that Australia “is not and has never been in the economic containment camp on China”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Picture: AFP

“No country has pulled more people out of poverty than China. And Australia is pleased to have played our role in the economic emancipation of millions of Chinese through the development of the Chinese economy,” Mr Morrison said.

The Prime Minister said Australia’s actions had been wrongly interpreted by some through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the US.

“It’s as if Australia does not have its own unique interests or its own views as an independent sovereign state. This is just false. And worse it needlessly deteriorates relationships,” he said.

Dr Wang Huiyao, the president of the Centre for China and Globalisation, said actions taken by the Morrison government this year had made China feel Australia was “attacking China worse than the US”.

But Dr Wang – an adviser to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang – said the recent signing of the RCEP trade agreement had provided a good opportunity to improve the relationship.

“China noticed the good will Australia expressed supporting China to join the multiple trade mechanisms,” he told The Australian.

In another apparent sign of Beijing’s apparent desire to resolve the diplomatic spat, more restrained pieces on the bilateral relationship have been published in China’s state controlled media.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Adam Taylor

“China attaches great importance to its ties with Australia, especially in energy trade,” wrote Zhai Shilei, the executive deputy director of the Centre for Australian Studies at China University of Mining and Technology, in an opinion piece in the China Daily published on Wednesday.

Mr Shilei said it was important that Beijing and Canberra “take measure to reduce their trust deficit”.

Wednesday’s China Daily – composed like all Chinese state media under the watch of Beijing’s powerful Propaganda Department – also included a positive news story on Australian iron ore giant Rio Tinto and a briefing on a medical breakthrough by Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The stridently nationalistic tabloid the Global Times, however, said it was unconvinced by Mr Morrison’s speech.

“China has too often seen Australia doing one thing while saying another. Because of this, its trust in Canberra has collapsed,” the tabloid wrote.

Despite an apparent tempering of rhetoric by officials in Beijing, Australian exports continue to have trouble entering China.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that the amount of black-listed Australian coal stuck off the Chinese coast has now swollen to more than $670m across more than 50 vessels carrying about 1000 seafarers.

For weeks, Australian wine has been held up by Chinese customs officials.

The chief executive of Tahbilk Wines told The Australian this week that four shipping containers of its wine had been stalled in Chinese ports.

He said Tahbilk had halted all further shipments to China.