Worry about Japan not China, says Beijing’s top envoy in Australia

China’s ambassador to Australia has launched an extraordinary attack on Japan, warning Australians against becoming too trusting of their former World War II adversary and declaring Japan is a greater military threat than China.

Xiao Qian, China’s top envoy in Australia, said Japan’s failure to issue an official apology for its conduct during WWII, including the mistreatment of Australian prisoners of war, meant it could again go to war with Australia, even though the countries have since become close security partners.

Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian warned Australia against becoming too close to Japan.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Describing the Australia-China relationship as at “a critical stage of turnaround”, Xiao said he hoped a solution to the detention of Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun in China would soon emerge, adding that it was important for Australia to respect China’s legal processes.

He also suggested Australia and China could seek to resolve trade blockages on $20 billion of Australian imports through direct negotiation rather than the World Trade Organisation.

“Bilateral is much easier to find a solution instead of going through the multilateral forum,” he told reporters at a new year’s press conference at the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

After accusing Australia of targeting China through the AUKUS security pact with the United States and United Kingdom, Xiao said it was “not very long, when you look at history, that Australia was under threat and being attacked and invaded” by Japan.

“During the Second World War, Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians and treated Australian POWs in a way that is humanly unacceptable,” he said.

“And the Japanese government has not apologised for that up to today. If they don’t apologise, it means they don’t accept it’s wrong and they might repeat the history.

“Once somebody threatens you, he might threaten you again. China has been your friend; we will continue to be your friend.”

Japan launched almost 100 air raids on Australia between 1942 and 1943, including devastating attacks on Darwin and Broome, and invaded the Australian-controlled territories of New Guinea and Papua.

In 1957, then-Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi said during a visit to Australia: “It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia, our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war.”

Over recent decades, Japan and Australia have become increasingly close security partners, in part due to a shared concern about China’s growing power and assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific.

Xiao intensified his criticisms of AUKUS, saying the federal government was wasting taxpayer money by spending tens of billions of dollars on nuclear-powered submarines.

“It will not solve any problem of Australia’s security concerns,” he said of AUKUS.

“China’s not seeking to be an enemy of the United States, neither are we of the United Kingdom, nor are we of Australia so there’s no reason for the three countries to stand together to work on something that’s targeting China as a threat.”

Xiao accused Japan’s outspoken ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, of seeking to drive a wedge between Beijing and Canberra.

Yamagami has described China’s military activities around Taiwan as shocking and warned Australia against putting “too many eggs in one basket” by becoming dependent on its trade relationship with China.

“I’m afraid our colleague from Japan is not doing his job,” Xiao said.

“Japan is a great country, Japanese people are great people, Chinese people and Japanese people are very friendly.

“But there are a handful of people, a handful of political forces, in that country that are taking a twisted way of looking at history, a twisted way of looking at China, a twisted way of looking at the relations between China and Australia. That is not constructive; that is not helpful.”

A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Canberra said: “The embassy has no intention to comment on any specific comments by the Chinese ambassador. We believe that this is a time for dialogue and no time to engage in mutual recrimination.”

Yamagami later told the ABC he had only spoken “common sense” in his remarks on China.

“We place significant emphasis on the importance of maintaining [the] rules-based international order. If that offends my Chinese counterpart, what can I say?”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, signed a wide-ranging security agreement earlier this year, while Australia and the US agreed to integrate Japan into local military exercises.

A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Richard Marles, who last month described Australia’s relationship with Japan as foundational, declined to comment on Tuesday.

Xiao said Australian officials had repeatedly raised the cases of Cheng, a journalist, and Yang, a writer and pro-democracy advocate, with their Chinese counterparts.

“The Chinese side has been patiently explaining that, so far as the legal process is concerned, there is nothing the government can do,” he said.

“They violated the rules and they’re suspected of releasing national security information to a third country.”

China was working to secure better consular access for the Australians, he said, adding: “As for the future, I hope the solution will come as soon as possible, but we need to respect the legal procedure. Once there’s a solution, there will be an announcement at the proper time.”

Xiao said he hoped to see continued improvements in Australia and China’s trade relationship following recent reports that state-owned enterprises would begin purchasing Australian coal again.

He noted that Beijing has complaints about restrictions on Chinese investment in Australia, saying: “There are also concerns from the Chinese side.”

He was also hopeful senior Chinese ministers would visit Australia this year, following last year’s breakthrough meeting between Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali.

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