Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addresses the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra on 10 August 2022. Photo: AFP
China's ambassador to Australia has warned that Taiwanese people advocating full independence from the mainland will be "punished" according to Chinese law, speaking in an interview with the ABC's 7.30 program.
Ambassador Xiao Qian was pressed on whether Taiwanese people would be "re-educated" in the event of reunification with the mainland, as has been publicly suggested by China's ambassador in Paris.
Xiao said they would be obliged to learn about China but rejected the idea the education would be "forced".
"This is a question of obligation ... not a question of force," he said.
But Xiao said for a "handful" of "secessionists" who were "stubborn" in their pursuit of Taiwanese independence, it was "not a question of re-education" - instead, they would be "punished according to law".
Ambassador 'trying' for access for Cheng Lei's children
The ambassador was pressed on the circumstances of the detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was formally arrested in China in February 2021.
Asked why it was that Lei had not been able to speak with her children for two years, Xiao first responded by saying Australian consular officials had good access to Lei.
But when questioned on why access could not be facilitated for her children, Xiao said he did have personal "sympathy" for her family facing "such a difficult situation".
Xiao said while he could not interfere with the legal proceedings afoot in China, he was "trying" as ambassador to facilitate "much easier access" for Cheng Lei's relatives on a "humanitarian" basis.
'Nothing true in it'
A landmark report from the United Nations' commissioner on human rights found China had perpetuated serious violations of human rights within detention centres in the country's Xinjiang region, targeted at Uyghurs and other minority Muslim communities.
The allegations include torture, use of force in interrogations and cruel or degrading treatment.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the allegations in the report were "harrowing".
She praised the "strength and determination" of members of the Uyghur ethnic community in Australia and worldwide in bringing stories of their mistreatment to light.
The ambassador dismissed the document as a product of "manipulation and confusion".
"There is nothing true in it," he said.
When pressed on whether the report stirred feelings of "shame or revulsion", the ambassador said "no" and called the report an "absolute fabrication".
An Albanese meeting must be 'constructive'
The ambassador said "no preconditions" should be set for a meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and China's President Xi Jinping.
"I would love to see a top-level meeting between the two countries," the ambassador said.
But he said the groundwork needed to be done to ensure the meeting would be productive.
"We have to make sure it will be a constructive one, instead of a destructive one."
- ABC