Taiwan wants the Australian government to resume free trade agreement talks after they were halted several times from pressure by Beijing.
“Like Australia, we also have experienced economic bullying from China and are fearful about what it will do,” Tao said. “Last year, they stopped our export of pineapples to the mainland.”
Tao said the country, which has the same population as Australia on an island half the size of Tasmania, was the number one buyer of Australian products on a per capita basis.
“Australia runs a very healthy trade surplus with Taiwan of about $9 billion and trade is set to increase over the coming years,” he said, adding that Australia is seen as a safe and friendly investment environment.
Tao said Taiwan is also wary of Beijing’s increasingly aggressive attitude and noted that Xi Jinping, who is a “very different leader” compared to his predecessors, wants to leave behind a legacy.
Beijing Interference with an Australia-Taiwan FTA
Australia’s official stance currently adheres to Beijing’s “One China” policy, meaning it does not formally recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state nor have official diplomatic relations.However, in 2016, talks between the then-Turnbull government and Taiwan were put on hold after Beijing exerted pressure to stop the trade agreement. The China-Australia FTA had just been signed a year prior, in 2015.