Albanese evasive on China navy incident
Anthony Albanese says Beijing has been left in no doubt that the “reckless, unsafe and unprofessional” actions of its navy in the East China Sea last week would damage the recovering relationship between Australia and China.
However, in breaking his silence two days after the government revealed the incident, the prime minister refused to say whether he raised it specifically during informal discussions late last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco.
Mr Albanese with fellow APEC leaders last week. AP
Although Mr Albanese said on Saturday he raised with Mr Xi the removal of remaining trade sanctions on Australia wine, lobster and beef, he said on Monday, when pushed over the navy incident, that it would be inappropriate to divulge the contents of the discussion because it was not a formal bilateral meeting.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday last week off international waters near Japan, has rung alarm bells in Tokyo and Washington.
Navy divers were trying to disentangle a fishing net from beneath the HMAS Toowoomba when a Chinese navy destroyer approached and activated its sonar, causing the divers to cease operations. One suffered a minor injury.
The US government joined condemnation of the incident.
“This week, dangerous behaviour by a PLA destroyer resulted in the injury of personnel supporting a lawfully operating (an Australian Navy) vessel, the latest example in a pattern of coercive and risky PLA operational behaviour,” Assistant Defence Secretary for the Asia-Pacific Ely Ratner said on social media.
Mr Albanese told Sky News on Monday Australia had made it “very clear” to the Chinese “our strong objections to this occurrence”.
“What I said when I was in China is that we will co-operate where we can, but disagree where we must. And this is one of those times when we disagree with the action of China.”
He said the restoration of dialogue between the two countries was important in stopping such incidents escalating.
“Dialogue brings understanding and understanding is always good because the consequences of these events are that they do damage to the relationship,” he said.
“And this certainly is an event that does do damage. And we’ve made that very clear to China.”
But he continued to obfuscate when asked whether he had mentioned it to Mr Xi, whom he met twice informally on the sidelines of APEC.
Private meetings
“There was no bilateral meeting with President Xi where you give a readout of what the events occurred,” he said.
“I don’t talk about private meetings on the sidelines, discussions I have with any world leader. That’s how you keep communications open.”
But on Saturday, before leaving San Francisco, Mr Albanese spoke to reporters about his conversations with Mr Xi.
“We reiterated the stabilisation that is occurring and, of course, our trade. The removal of any of the remaining trade impediments is very much in Australia’s interest, but it was positive,” he said.
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said it was not good enough for the incident to have not been raised by Mr Albanese with Mr Xi.
“‘Co-operate where we can, disagree where we must’ should never mean stage managing CCP aggression that injures our ADF personnel,” she said on social media.
“More weak leadership from Anthony Albanese who appears to be prioritising photo ops with Xi Jinping over speaking up for our people. Disgraceful.”
While the Chinese government had not yet commented on the incident, state media accused the Albanese government of being “vague” and “one-sided” in its claims.
“The Australian press release is widely questioned by Chinese military experts, especially about the vague location given where the incident is supposed to have taken place,” the Global Times newspaper said on Monday.
Zhang Junshe, a Chinese naval expert, told Chinese media it was possible the incident took place in waters administered by China and questioned the Australian government’s motives by not disclosing more details about the incident.
The tone of the Chinese media commentary is a departure from positive stories about the Albanese government in the lead-up to and after the prime minister’s visit to Beijing.
Alarm in Japan
In Japan, the Kishida government has become increasingly alarmed about the growing number of incidents involving Chinese vessels and those from other countries in its territorial waters.
“It just adds to the intense worry they’ve had for a long time about China and Chinese encroachment and aggression in Japanese waters,” Grant Newsham, a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies and a retired US Marine Corps colonel, told The Australian Financial Review on Monday.
“The sonar attack on the Australian divers is just one more Chinese affront to the Japanese, on top of many others.
“The Japanese have been fighting off the Chinese around the Senkakus since the late 2000s – and it’s practically a daily event. Japanese fishermen have effectively been driven out of traditional fishing grounds in certain areas.”
He was referring to a territorial dispute between Japan and China over a chain of islands off Okinawa in the country’s west where Beijing is also accused of harassing Japanese navy vessels and local fishermen.
Like Australia, Japan is raising its defence spending due to shared concerns about China’s aggression in the region.
Shortly before the sonar incident became public, Japan’s Defence Ministry issued a statement supporting the HMAS Toowoomba’s work in the region, which it says is part of the international effort to realise the dismantlement of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction.
“Japan welcomes these activities,” it said.
