Moment Labor MP appears to blame AUSTRALIA for tensions with China in the wake of Covid – and critics say he’s forgetting some very important facts

A Labor MP has copped criticism for seemingly 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 NSW Parliament, appeared on Q+A on Monday night, where he was accused of ‘rewriting history’ over his comments on China-Australian relations.    

‘What would happen if, God forbid, the Coalition were to win the Federal election next year?’, Mr Li asked. 

‘It’s very hard to say. My gut instinct is that it’s hard for a leopard to change its spots. As a Chinese Australian, I think back to the dark days of the China-Australia relationship. 

‘That was an awful, awful time for Chinese Australians. Not only were we vilified because the People’s Republic of China was seen as extremely unfriendly to Australia and we look Chinese so we really copped it in Covid. 

‘And we certainly don’t want to go back to those days.’

Mr Li, who was born in Sydney but lived and worked in China for eight years, went on to praise Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approach to Australian-Chinese relations.

‘It is certainly one of the best achievements of the Albanese government to bring that relationship back on track,’ he added.

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’s pictured shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) on the sidelines of the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week

Mr Li’s comments were slammed by prominent China hawk Drew Pavlou, who said that ‘this version of history basically erases the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party’s) aggression towards Australia under the previous government’. 

‘The Chinese Embassy infamously issued a list of ’14 Demands” which commanded Australia to shut down independent think tanks and ‘negative media reporting’ on the CCP,’ he said. 

‘They demanded the repeal of counter foreign-interference legislation and commanded Australia to drop calls for an independent inquiry into COVID-19 and human rights concerns on Uyghurs, Hong Kong and Taiwan.   

‘Jason Yat-Sen Li basically erases this history and pretends that the only reason Xi Jinping sanctioned Australia was that the Liberals were undiplomatic.’

Until Mr 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 cyber attacks in 2017.

But the big flashpoint came in April 2020 when then-PM Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19. 

In retaliation, China imposed swingeing tariffs on Australian exports which affected $20 billion of Australian goods, including barley, beef, wine, coal, timber and lobster.

Mr Li’s comments were slammed by prominent China hawk Drew Pavlou who said that ‘this version of history basically erases the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party’s) 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 embittered relationship reached fever pitch when a list of ’14 grievances’, which Mr 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 media reports, banning Huawei from the 5G network in 2018, funding ‘anti-China research’ and blocking Chinese investment deals. 

The deep freeze between the two countries has begun to thaw under Mr Albanese’s government, with both nations striking tentative trade deals for goods such as lobster and barley.

Indeed, the pair are more positively chummy, with a Chinese state-owned newspaper recently describing Mr Albanese as a world leader that others from the West should strive to emulate.

On the ABC program, Mr Li had originally been asked for his thoughts 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 swimming pool,’ Mr Li joked.

‘I don’t think a Trump Presidency will impact how we relate to China. We will need to continue to walk that line. The Prime Minister puts it very well: we collaborate where we can, we disagree where we must … in our national interest.’

Mr Li, who has a law degree, worked for a number of insurance and investment companies in China before moving back 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 from within – it is not only fundamentally contrary to the Australian values we seek to uphold, but would do more damage to our democracy than any foreign power ever could,’ he wrote in The Guardian in April 2020.