Little Value in a ‘Diplomatic Thaw’ With Beijing: Foreign Policy Experts

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, 2022. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Foreign policy experts say a diplomatic thaw with Beijing should not be the end goal for U.S. and Australian leaders, who instead, should focus on compelling the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to uphold human rights and international rules around trade.

John Lee, the former senior advisor to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, said recent meetings between U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were only steps towards resuming regular diplomatic communication and any major change to bilateral ties was unlikely.

“Any verbal agreement with Xi should not be relied on or taken seriously given the Chinese leader’s long record of saying one thing and doing something else,” he told The Epoch Times in an email.

“Rather than seek a verbal understanding with Xi which means very little, President Biden’s focus should be to discuss ways to work more closely with Asian allies and partners to constrain China’s strategic options and deter Beijing from considering the use of force to realise its objectives.”

Lee is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the United States Studies Centre.

Western Leaders Scramble to Meet With Xi

On Nov. 14, Biden met with Xi at the sidelines of the G20 in Bali, Indonesia where the leaders discussed the future of Taiwan, human rights in China, and global competition.

“He was clear, and I was clear that we’ll defend American interests and values, promote universal human rights, and stand up for the international order, working in lockstep with our allies and partners,” Biden said after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Albanese met with Xi a day later to raise a host of issues with Beijing including Xinjiang’s human rights issues, the detention of Chinese-Australian nationals, and the possible removal of trade sanctions that have stopped $20 billion (US$13.5 billion) worth of goods entering the China market.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets China’s President Xi Jinping in a bilateral meeting during the 2022 G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Australia, on Nov. 15, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

“It was not anticipated that a meeting such as that, that you get immediate declarations. I believe if people thought that would happen, then that was not realistic,” the prime minister later told reporters.

The meeting was welcomed, however, by major business groups including the Australian Industry Group, the Business Council of Australia, and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Innes Willox, the Australian Industry Group’s CEO, said businesses were the “unfortunate victims of the deteriorating relationship” between Australia and China.

Beijing Bears Responsibility, Not the West

In response, Lee said Beijing’s trade sanctions—imposed in response to calls for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19—were a violation of World Trade Organisation rules and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

“It is more accurate to say that Beijing should begin to respect its legal and treaty commitments rather than frame normal trade as a result of the normalisation of relations,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Liberal Sen. Eric Abetz, who served as chair of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said he welcomed the Australian Labor government’s continuation of the previous Morrison government’s stance on the CCP.

“It was a bit of a change in the policy Labor took—on a populist basis—when they were in opposition, which was that anybody who sought to condemn the brutal dictatorship in Beijing was labelled a ‘racist’ in a misguided bid to obtain support with the Chinese diaspora in Australia,” he told The Epoch Times, noting that in fact, many in local Chinese communities had first-hand experience of CCP human rights abuses.

“But that’s in the past, I trust the prime minister and government will continue to hold the line on fundamental human rights and will not water down and try to justify, or turn a blind eye, to the gross violations perpetrated by the Beijing dictatorship.”