Call for China Appeasement: Australian Premier Says PM Should Bring Entourage of State Leaders to Meet With Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds during the opening of the 3rd Session of the 12th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People on March 5, 2015 in Beijing, China.Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the nation’s state leaders should come together to visit and meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, says Western Australian (WA) Premier Mark McGowan.

The Labor Premier McGowan is currently touring China—WA’s largest trading partner—and has been vocal in his support for stronger economic ties with Beijing and critical of any talk of a “Cold War.”

“The prime minister, hopefully, will come to China sometime in the next six months and meet with President Xi Jinping,” McGowan told The West newspaper on April 20.

“One of the things he could do is, invite all the premiers and chief ministers to come with him.”

(L-R) Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, and Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan speak to media during a press conference after a National Cabinet meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Feb. 3, 2023. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

He said the premiers could “fan out” across China to cover more ground.

“It would be a strong demonstration that the relationship is back to a harmonious and productive one,” he said.

McGowan also told Beijing’s media mouthpiece, The Global Times newspaper, that talk of decoupling trade from China was “now in the past” while also praising a new era of Australia-China ties under the federal Labor government.

The Epoch Times has contacted McGowan’s office for confirmation of the remarks.

McGowan is the second state leader to visit China this year, following Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ visit a few weeks earlier. Andrews, who controversially signed up for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), did not allow a media contingent to join him during his week-long tour.

Andrews’ BRI agreement was later torn up under specific laws passed by the former Morrison government who cited concerns that the Belt and Road were against Australia’s national interest. Later this year, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is expected to also tour China.

McGowan’s suggestion, meanwhile was lambasted by Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who said, “Honest to God, I couldn’t believe it.”

Australia's Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 21, 2021. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

“I thought it was an article from [satrical website] the Betoota Advocate,” he told Sky News Australia on April 20.

“To the people of Western Australia, really and truly, I know you think Mr. McGowan walks on water, but he is walking on water all the way to Beijing,” Joyce said.

“This is the country that took over the South China Sea without firing a shot and built military bases there. Has incarcerated ... the Uyghur people—up to a million people. Who has ripped journalists off the streets in Hong Kong and are never seen again, and summarily executes people for a range of reasons.”

McGowan’s Slip Creating Fissures in National Cohesiveness

As part of his diplomatic offensive, McGowan took part in a China-Australia Chamber of Commerce dinner in Beijing.

However, the premier was filmed badmouthing WA federal Liberal Party MP Andrew Hastie, who is banned from entering China.

“I like Mathias Cormann, he had the same view as me, but he had no sway … on this issue [of Australia-China ties]. He had a lot of sway, but on this issue, he was the odd one out,” McGowan said in the footage.

“The other Western Australian who was senior, well, there was a few of them actually—Hastie. He swallowed some sort of Cold War pills back … when he was born, and he couldn’t get his mindset out of that.”

Hastie responded quickly, saying McGowan was “out of his intellectual depth.”

“I was not surprised that he was running down Australian MPs in China, but I was surprised that he would do that given he was a former legal officer in the Royal Australian Navy,” Hastie said.

“I think when you’re overseas, and you’re representing our country, you keep those sorts of comments to yourself and you back in your colleagues across the Parliament regardless of what party they are in.

“I think it’s pretty damaging, and it shows he is out of his intellectual depth.”