ANDREW GREENE: Australia’s relationship with China at another crossroad with ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’

National security figures have over recent weeks begun to worry if relations with China are heading in the direction of the lows experienced during the Morrison government, when China imposed crippling trade sanctions and deployed “wolf warrior diplomacy”.

When Labor came to power in 2022 new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese worked hard to improve relations with Beijing, vowing: ‘We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in the national interest”.

But in recent times the disagreements have seemed more frequent, and the cooperation virtually non-existent, as China continues to test the resolve of Western allies in the Pacific.

In early July China’s top diplomat in Australia launched a furious attack on ASIO and other Western intelligence agencies, accusing them of fabricating spying claims against his nation while denying that Beijing engages in foreign interference.

Last week Beijing also rattled Pacific nations with the test-firing of a nuclear-capable missile on the same day Australia signed the Ocean of Peace Alliance treaty with Fiji, earning widespread condemnation from the region, led by the Albanese government.

“We don’t want to see any action that is destabilising or which undermines the peace, security and stability of the Pacific and the region. And there is no doubt that this is a provocative act by China which does destabilise the region,” Albanese declared while in Solomon Islands.

“This is one of those occasions where we must disagree with this action, and in particular, we point out that it is standard procedure for tests such as this, for there to be given 48 hours’ notice,” the Prime Minister added.

At the weekend diplomatic tensions over China’s growing strategic reach were again ignited, this time by the 10-year anniversary of a international legal ruling against Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Australia along with 13 nations including the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Japan came together in a joint statement urging parties to abide by the Hague’s 2016 decision that ruled in favour of a legal maritime claim by the Philippines.

“We reiterate our strong opposition to any destabilizing or unilateral actions including by force or coercion that threaten peace and stability in the region,” the signatories stated, just days after China’s submarine-launched weapons test into the Pacific.

“We reaffirm our strong opposition to the use of coast guard, military, and maritime militia forces to harass, obstruct, or intimidate lawful operations by other States at sea or in the air,” the statement added.

In recent years China’s coast guard, military and maritime militia have stepped up intimidation of Filipino vessels inside their own territorial waters, while warships and aircraft of other nations that transit the South China Sea are increasingly targeted.

A decade ago, when the Permanent Court of Arbitration made its landmark 2016 ruling in favour of the Philippines, China’s massive military expansion in the South China Sea had only just started to gain international attention.

A year earlier Australia had drawn criticism from the United States for granting a 99-year lease of Darwin Port to Chinese owned company Landbridge, a decision which governments are yet to successfully overturn.

In the years that followed the Turnbull government also drew anger from China as it introduced sweeping laws to counter reports of covert foreign influence and espionage in Australian politics.

The crackdown which included foreign donations ban, a new transparency scheme and tougher espionage laws followed widespread reports of operations by Beijing to meddle in local democratic institutions.

By early 2020 relations with Australia’s largest trading partner deteriorated even further when the then Morrison government called for an independent global investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That move surprised and greatly angered China which imposed economically damaging trade sanctions and regularly chastised Australia in public statements by so-called “wolf warrior” diplomats.

Fast forward to 2026 and the Albanese government, now into its second term and having mostly restored diplomatic relations, is now dealing with an increasingly difficult trading partner.

The most recent test to emerge in the fickle and fractious relationship between the Albanese government and the rising superpower is a proposal by Taiwan to establish a new unofficial consular presence in Western Australia.

Earlier this month The Nightly revealed that China’s embassy in Canberra had launched a strong protest with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to oppose the additional “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” in Perth.

“Cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in the national interest,” has been a frequent refrain of the Albanese government since coming to power, but China has made it clear it views the “Taiwan issue” as particularly sensitive and won’t play nice if its views are not respected.