708 中澳合作還有一段距離

中國李強總理訪問澳洲, 令人啼笑皆非。

李強沒有到訪如墨爾本或是悉尼的大城巿, 首先到達了阿德萊德, 進行熊貓外交, 表示會在明年派送兩隻新的熊貓來澳洲。據估計, 網網與福妮來了澳洲15年,在阿德萊德見過它們的不到2百萬人, 相信並沒有多少人因它們加增對中國的認識或好感, 不過今次訪問卻是中國向澳洲展示兩個關係緩和的象徵。

其後李強到了坎培拉, 阿爾巴尼斯總理在發言中誤稱他為李克強, 是一時口誤還是反映李強鮮為人認識, 無法判斷。但一名中國大使館組織的歡迎者, 在誤上了一輛抗議者旅遊巴士時談話的錄像, 不單呈現出領事館付錢雇人來歡迎李強, 歡迎者更指出她根本對李強毫無認識, 連樣子也未曾見過, 卻令人忍俊不禁。還有的是在坎培拉抗議者的聲勢並不小, 有來自新疆、西藏及香港的抗議者, 不過他們的抗議相信不會出現在中國媒體之中, 但卻全展現在澳洲人眼內。

更令澳洲人難以接受的, 是在國會會議發佈會上, 中國大使館職員, 無視澳方工作人員的阻止, 故意遮擋曾被中國囚禁三年多天空電視台記者成蕾, 不容許電視鏡頭及李強見到, 卻意外地成為李強訪問澳洲的媒體重點報導。中國領館人員要在澳洲強行實施中國那一套「媒體管理」手段, 令澳洲人憤慨。阿爾巴尼斯總理在其後的新聞發佈會中, 邀請成蕾首先發問, 表達了澳洲不接受中國的方式。

事實上, 李強訪問澳洲, 兩國合作並沒有取得更大的進展。除了中國提供15天免簽及一些文化交流合作外, 並沒有公佈中國盼望得到澳洲支持加入「跨太平洋夥伴全面進步協定」(CPTPP)及對被判死刑的澳洲人楊恒均的釋放或其他安排。總理阿爾巴尼斯表示, 兩國保持了高層次的聯絡而不是具體的合作。

可見兩國關係, 還沒有進一步改善。

在李強訪問西澳與礦業商討合作及參觀提煉電動車鋰電池的鋰金屬工廠的同時, 阿爾巴尼斯在柏斯西澳人日報發表文章。文章表示澳洲在吸納外國投資時, 要以澳洲的國家利益為大前題, 顯示會審慎留意中國在澳洲投資的企業。

在李強離開澳洲時, 外長黃英賢又帶領了政府7名部長訪問新畿內亞, 進行部長級會談, 抗衡中國在這地區日益擴大的影響力。可以說, 中澳離重建緊密合作的目標, 還是很遠吧。

周偉文 社長

Australia-China cooperation still much to be done

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia is nothing serious.

First Premier Li did not touch base on major cities Melbourne and Sydney but went to Adeliade playing up foreign policy of the giant panda telling another pair would be coming soon .  The earlier pair Wang Wang and Fu Ni have been in Adeliade Zoo for 15 years and likely could only have been seen by less than 2 million visitors. Supposedly not many Australians would have known or felt better on China because of them. But this visit certainly is a good gesture from China to restore relationship with Australia.

Premier Li then went onto Canberra where our PM Albanese mistakenly called him as Li Keqiang, unsure it was a mere mistake or due to Li Qiang’s unpopularity. But a welcomer organised by the Chinese Embassy was caught on video camera where she was actually paid to act as a welcomer, more absurdly she even admitted she did not know anything about him as the Chinese Premier. Actually, on the spot there was quite a crowd of protestors representing Xinjiang, Tibet and HongKong. They were all covered by the Australian press but unlikely could be seen in any Chinese media.

Australians may find it hard to accept that during the press conference Chinese officials moved to block cameras from filming journalist Cheng Lei, a Sky News journalist formerly detained in China for three years. They attempted to shield her away but ended up making her the highlight of the press conference reporting. We are not impressive to see Chinese Embassy staff enforcing their Chinese way of media control in Australia. Later at the press conference PM Albanese personally invited Cheng Lei to raise her question, showing an Australian approach not a Chinese one was to work here.

In fact this Li Qiang’s visit did not bring much advance in the mutual relation of the two nations. Besides China offered a 15-day Visa-free entry and several cultural exchange items, there was no announcement on China’s request for Australian support on the participation in CPTPP, nor was any plan on the release of Yang Hengjun, an Australian writer sentenced to death in China. PM Albanese only said high level talks between the two countries would continue but not on any concrete matters that could prove the mutual relation had remarkably improved.

As Premier Li headed to Western Australia holding talk with the mineral industry and visiting lithium factory for electric cars, PM Albanese published article in the Perth Western Australian Daily. He stated that in attracting foreign investment, Australia would always put national interest as our top priority, meaning enterprise involvement with China would be closely securitised. 

As when Li Qiang flied off, Foreign Secretary Penny Wong led her 7-ministers delegation to PNG on the topic of counteracting China’s growing influence in the region. That indicated there would be a lot to catch up on a closer mutual Australia-China relationship.

Mr. Raymond Chow, Publisher