China has called for a resumption of military cooperation with Australia while claiming a Japanese warship might be to blame for a sonar attack that injured naval divers from HMAS Toowoomba last year.
Key points:
- Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian claims a Japanese warship was likely responsible for a sonar attack on HMAS Toowoomba last year
- He said the incident would have been far more serious had the Chinese ship used its undersea sonar
- The ambassador has blasted the Australian government for recently congratulating Taiwan on its presidential elections
During a lengthy press briefing inside the Chinese embassy, Ambassador Xiao Qian also blasted the Albanese government for recently congratulating Taiwan on its presidential elections, warning the diplomatic matter was "very sensitive".
Last year, Australia strongly condemned Beijing after defence personnel were injured in international waters by sonar pulses suspected of coming from a nearby People's Liberation Army (PLA) warship.
Asked about November's confrontation off the Japanese coast, Ambassador Xiao told reporters that military officials in Beijing were confident the PLA-Navy was not responsible, claiming a Japanese warship was likely responsible.
"At that moment there was a third country boat nearby. Whether or not there was sonar from the other side, the other party, we're not sure. Perhaps our Australian colleagues can find out what's the truth."
Ambassador Xiao also claimed the incident would have been far more serious had the Chinese destroyer used its undersea sonar.
"Should they have initiated the sonar from the Chinese ship against the divers it would cause immediate fatality, at least major casualty to the divers".
China's top diplomat to Canberra also expressed hope the PLA and Australian Defence Force could soon resume military cooperation, which was suspended when diplomatic relations began to sour in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.
"It's so important to the mutual trust and confidence in our two countries … if you have trust between two militaries, you do not have to build trust. I'd like to see more interactions (and) engagement between our defence people."
During a visit to Tasmania, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government's position on the dangerous sonar incident had not changed, but stressed he had not seen the Chinese diplomat's latest comments.
"I stand by the comments we made at the time, we made strong representations to China about this incident, and we stand by the representations that we made," Mr Albanese said.
The ABC has also approached the Defence Department for comment.
Ambassador warns Australia of 'no flexibility' on sensitive Taiwan issue
Despite improving relations between China and Australia following the 2022 election of the Albanese government, the ambassador nominated several areas of concern, particularly Taiwan.
In a two-hour-long press briefing, Ambassador Xiao warned Australia there was "no room at all" for compromise over Taiwan, chastising the Albanese government for congratulating the self-governing territory on its recent presidential elections.
Mr Albanese has urged China to respect the result, despite the Chinese government dismissing the election of William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has branded an "instigator of war".
"This issue is very sensitive to our bilateral relationship … We have made our serious representations that we are strongly opposed to such a statement," Ambassador Xiao said.
Ambassador Xiao also declared 2023 was "a year of exchange, dialogue and improvement" for diplomatic relations, while adding this year would be to "consolidate the momentum of civilisation and improvement".
The ambassador also rejected suggestions that Beijing had offered a generous financial incentive to the Pacific Island nation of Nauru to this week switch diplomatic allegiances away from Taiwan.
The Albanese government said it respected Nauru's diplomatic decision, but Labor sources have rejected suggestions that a reduction in funding for Australia's regional processing centre on the Pacific Island allowed China to gain influence there.
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2024-01-17 06:07:26Z
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