Xiao Qian has written another article explaining what Australians are meant to think about Taiwan.
No.
Xiao is not a neutral diplomat. He is a propagandist for a one-party state that does not permit dissent, does not allow free elections, and does not tolerate independent thought. It imprisons political and religious opponents, including Falun Gong practitioners, and harvests their organs as a secondary income stream. This is established.
Against that background, the expectation that Australians should treat him as an authority on sovereignty or political legitimacy is ridiculous.
His comparison of Taiwan to Tasmania is absurd. Tasmania has never required foreign military protection from mainland revanchism. Taiwan does.
When Xiao claims Australia’s one-China policy binds us to Beijing’s interpretation, he knows this is false. The distinction has been explicit for decades. This is overt propaganda.
Australia’s interests here are not complicated:
- Oppose unilateral force against Taiwan
- Maintain freedom of navigation
- Trade with China without absorbing Communist Party ideology
- Speak plainly about authoritarian regimes
Xiao is free to publish whatever he likes. Australians are free to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.