China’s treatment of Australians it has locked up is linked to the state of the relationship between the two countries, with arbitrary detention a major “test” set to rise, according to a former senior diplomat.
Ian Kemish, who was head of Australia’s consular service, said the arrest and detention of people brought together “very complex factors” and would need more resources to adequately meet the challenge.
“I do feel like there’s a very direct correlation between the state of the relationship on one hand, and China’s treatment of our citizens,” he said.
“My sense is that this problem of international arbitrary detention is here to stay and that we need to resource up for it.
“There’s a consistency and uniformity of response that’s going to be required over an extended period of time … and it means more resourcing.”
Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been jailed in China for almost two years, after she was accused of sharing national security information.
Ms Cheng, who was secretly tried in March, has not been allowed any family visits.
Australian National University chancellor and former foreign minister Julie Bishop said China’s aggressive expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, including the security deal Beijing inked with the Solomon Islands was “concerning for all countries”.
Ms Bishop said the federal government needed to “focus” on Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
Speaking in Canberra at the ANU for his book launch on Monday, Mr Kemish also said he didn’t believe the former coalition government’s decision to ban Australians from returning from India last year amid the surge in COVID-19 infections was “racist in motivation”.
“The Australian government owes no legal obligation to its citizens abroad, other than right of abode,” he said.
“Effectively Australians of Indian heritage were banned from re-entering the country … Australians come from all sorts of different backgrounds.
“Our immigration nation makes no sense unless we treat Australians equally.”
When asked if he thought the ban was justifiable, Mr Kemish said the answer lay in the “public response and the speed with which the Australian government dismantled that arrangement”.
The ban, which came into effect in May 2021, was the first time in history Australia had barred its own citizens from returning home, threatening jail time and fines of up to $66,000.
