A Labor MP has come under fire for apparently suggesting Australia was to blame for worsening tensions with China under Scott Morrison’s government.
Jason Yat-Sen Li, a former businessman turned MP in the New South Wales Parliament, appeared on Q+A on Monday night, where he was accused of “rewriting history” for his comments on China-Australia relations .
“What would happen if, God forbid, the Coalition won the federal election next year?” Mr Li asked.
‘It’s very difficult to say. My gut tells me that a leopard finds it difficult to change its spots. As a Chinese Australian, I think back to the dark days of the China-Australia relationship.
“That was a terrible, terrible time for Chinese Australians. Not only were we vilified because the PRC was seen as extremely hostile to Australia and we look Chinese, so we really did it with Covid.
“And we certainly don’t want to go back to those days.”
Li, who was born in Sydney but lived and worked in China for eight years, praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approach to Australia-China relations.
“Without a doubt, getting that relationship back on track is one of the Albanian government’s best achievements,” he added.
Jason Yat-Sen Li (pictured), a former businessman and state MP, appeared on Q+A this week, where he was accused of “rewriting history” for his comments on China-Australia relations.
Until Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) visited China in November last year, an Australian prime minister had not been to the country since 2016. He is shown shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) on the sidelines of the 19th .th G20 Summit in Rio. from Janeiro last week
Mr Li’s comments were criticized by prominent China hawk Drew Pavlou, who said “this version of history basically erases the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) aggression towards Australia under the previous government”.
“The Chinese embassy infamously issued a list of ’14 Demands’ ordering Australia to shut down independent think tanks and ‘negative media reports’ about the CCP,” he said.
‘They demanded the repeal of anti-foreign interference legislation and ordered Australia to drop calls for an independent inquiry into COVID-19 and the human rights concerns of the Uyghurs, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Jason Yat-Sen Li basically erases this history and pretends that the only reason Xi Jinping sanctioned Australia was because the Liberals were undiplomatic.”
Until Albanese visited China in November last year, an Australian prime minister had not been to the country since 2016.
The relationship frayed for multiple reasons, with the coalition government highlighting concerns about foreign interference and alleged Chinese-sponsored cyberattacks in 2017.
But the big flashpoint came in April 2020, when then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19.
In retaliation, China imposed huge tariffs on Australian exports affecting $20 billion worth of Australian products including barley, beef, wine, coal, timber and lobster.
Mr Li’s comments were criticized by prominent China hawk Drew Pavlou, who said “this version of history basically erases the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) aggression towards Australia under the previous government” (pictured: Mr Li and Mr Alabense with other Labor Party figures pose for a photo during Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney this year)
The bitter relationship reached a fever pitch when a list of “14 grievances”, which Pavlou referenced, was leaked to Australian journalists in November 2020.
The Chinese government accused the Morrison administration of “poisoning bilateral relations” by, among other things, publishing negative and critical reports in the media, banning Huawei from the 5G network in 2018, funding “anti-China investigations” and blocking deals Chinese investment companies.
The deep freeze between the two countries has begun to thaw under the Albanese government, with both nations signing tentative trade deals for products such as lobster and barley.
In fact, the pair are more positively friendly, and a Chinese state newspaper recently described Albanese as a world leader that other Westerners should strive to emulate.
On the ABC show, Li was initially asked for his opinion on whether the election of US President Donald Trump will alter Australia’s relationship with China.
‘We are not a superpower. “We are not in a superpower competition with China, except maybe in the pool,” Mr Li joked.
‘I don’t think a Trump presidency will affect the way we engage with China. We will have to continue walking along that line. The Prime Minister puts it well: we collaborate where we can, we disagree where we must… in our national interest.
Li, a law graduate, worked for several insurance and investment companies in China before returning to Australia in 2013.
He has long been outspoken on the issue of anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia.
“To distrust, disenfranchise and vilify our fellow citizens would eat us up from within; not only is it fundamentally contrary to the Australian values we seek to defend, but it would do more damage to our democracy than any foreign power,” he wrote in the Guardian in April 2020.