China’s new ambassador, the so-called ‘Asia enforcer’, arrives in Canberra with message for Australia

China’s new ambassador has arrived in Canberra and urged Australia to respect his country’s “core interests and major concerns” as he begins a diplomatic posting amid renewed tensions over Beijing’s military activity in the region.

On Monday the Nightly revealed Ambassador Liu Jinsong’s pending arrival into Australia following his most recent role as head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asian Affairs.

After flying in on an Air China flight, and then catching a bus from Sydney to Canberra, the veteran diplomat and so-called “Asia enforcer” released a statement declaring: “Australia is an important country”.

“My appointment as the 16th Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Australia is like receiving a baton on a race track — a profound honour and responsibility,” and insisted both countries had “no fundamental conflicts of interest”.

“The prospects for cooperation are promising, but properly managing differences and expectations is also crucial.”

“The two sides should respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, strive to increase the pie of mutual benefit,” Liu said in a veiled reference to issues including Taiwan and China’s record on human rights.

He also praised Australians as having the “same resilient and self-reliant character” as the Chinese and remarked on how “strikingly familiar” the country felt when he first visited three decades ago.

“President Xi Jinping has devoted himself to the development of China-Australia relations and has steered the course for them.”

“As his representative, I will perform my duties wholeheartedly, listen attentively, safeguard China’s national interests, implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, serve the Chinese compatriots in Australia, and be a guardian and promoter of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.”

Last November a video released by Chinese state media, which spread quickly online, showed Liu glaring down at his Japanese counterpart, further inflaming tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.

Japanese media reports have also credited Mr Liu with being instrumental in defusing tensions between Beijing and Tokyo after a heated disagreement over remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan in December last year.

In photographs posted on the Chinese embassy’s website, the new Ambassador is seen posing at Sydney airport on Monday with two local prominent figures from Beijing’s United Front organisation.

Diplomatic figures say Liu is likely to keep the same trajectory in diplomatic relations as his immediate predecessor and believe he will be kept on a “very short leash” by his political masters in Beijing.

Over recent months strategic tensions between Australia and its largest trading partner have resurfaced, particularly after Beijing test fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the Pacific in July.

Another 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.

The 54-year-old Liu is taking over from Ambassador Xiao Qian, who has served in Australia for more than four years, and was formally fareweled last month by other members of Canberra’s diplomatic corps.

When Ambassador Xiao arrived in 2022, he began to oversee a stabilisation of relations between Australia and China which had hit rock bottom after Beijing imposed crippling trade sanctions against the Morrison government during the COVID pandemic.

As Ambassador Liu begins his posting to Canberra, the next US Ambassador to Australia, David Brat, is expected to also arrive in within weeks after being confirmed as the replacement to Caroline Kennedy who departed shortly after Donald Trump’s election win in 2024.A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on the new Chinese ambassador’s arrival when approached by The Nightly.