BUT 'ACKNOWLEDGE' DOES NOT MEAN 'AGREE' IN THIS CASE !
Xiao Qian at the National Press Club this week (Wed.10th August 2022), at around the 29 minute mark, quoted from a 1972 joint communique. Whilst he quoted accurately, it was plainly clear that he was trying to assert that Australia had in fact agreed with China on its position over Taiwan. Wrong!
We found the joint communique (complete with opening misspelling) in the National Archives. It was media release 3119 dated 21st December 1972 from Gough Whitlam's speeches. The 'Establishment of Diplomatic Relations With China' media release followed on the next day.
You will see in the copy of the communique below that the Australian Government recognised the PRC as the 'sole legal Chvernment of China'. (They obviously had no spell-checking).
It then says ', acknowledges the position of the Chinese Government that Taiwan is a province of the PRC...'.
This literally means that Australia accepted the PRC's position on Taiwan. It did NOT agree that Taiwan was a province of China.
The only mention of Taiwan in media release 3121 on the next day was to say that as diplomatic relations with Taiwan had ended with the PRC being recognised as the sole government of China, that Australian and Taiwanese mutual representations would be withdrawn by January 1973.
So, the above plus Qian's declaration of no compromise being possible on the Taiwan matter, left no doubt that he was dancing to the CCP's tune and more specifically, the tune of their Foreign Minister Wang Yi whose anger and language are equally arrogant.
Mr Qian won no friends here in his speech. Perhaps he would be better off back in China. And China could send someone who does not share the habits of our least popular former PM.
GB / AB
(The misspellings in the communique were obviously accidental at the time)
