Australia will maintain its Taiwan policy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says
- Comments follow Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu’s call for Australia to step up relations with the island amid threats from Beijing
- Beijing and Canberra have been at loggerheads, with Beijing slapping tariffs on Australian goods after Canberra called for probe into Covid-19’s origins
Asked about Australian support for Taiwan on Thursday, Morrison said his government had “always honoured all of our arrangements in the Indo-Pacific” – but appeared to mistakenly conflate Canberra’s position on the one-China policy regarding Taiwan with the “one country, two systems” model of semi-autonomy in Hong Kong.
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“We have always understood the one system, two countries arrangement, and we will continue to follow our policies there … one country, two systems, I should say,” Morrison told the local radio station 3AW.
“I’m not one to speak at length on these things, because I don’t wish to add to any uncertainty. But that’s why we have the security arrangements we have in place.”
He added: “We always have stood for freedom in our part of the world.”
Morrison’s remarks came after Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told The Australian Financial Review that Beijing seemed to be “preparing for a final assault against Taiwan”, and called for Australia to step up its relations with the island and continue its support amid threats from Beijing.
