Media Statement by the VCA on the visit to Australia of Premier Li Qiang of the PRC
17 June 2024
Hon Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia
Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia
Re. Media Statement by the Vietnamese Community in Australia (VCA) on the visit to Australia of Premier Li Qiang of the PRC
Dears Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister,
Chinese Premier Li Qiang wasted no time upon arriving in Australia on the weekend to begin his charm offensive by calling Canberra and Beijing to ‘shelve differences’, even though these differences were imposed by communist China in the first place. The side that has perseveringly tried to bring down those barriers was in fact Australia.
The Vietnamese Community in Australia – the community organisation established in 1977 as the voice of Vietnamese Australians currently numbers more than three hundred thousand people – has endorsed and remains supportive to, the Australian position which has been well expressed by Prime Minister Antony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, that is, in the pursuit of our national interests, Australia “cooperates where we can, disagrees where we must”.
Among the issues Australia should continue to oppose, include China’s military aggression in the Indo-Pacific Region with provoking construction of artificial islands and naval bases on the features that it controls within the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos historically belong to Vietnam.
Australia is a trading nation and the East Sea of Vietnam (aka Bien Dong or South China sea) remains our strategically essential route for trade and defence purposes. Beijing’s illegal and unilateral claims of sovereignty there must be opposed, on the basis of Australia’s national interests, and the security and peace of our allied such as The Philippines, Japan, South Korea and other countries in the region, such as Vietnam.
The Chinese Communist Party’s blatant violations of human rights against the Uyghur people, in Tibet and in Hong Kong, its threat of invasion against democratic Taiwan and last but not least, the murders of Falun Gong members for organ harvesting.
In similar concern, The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (the SRV) and Australia have recently upgraded bilateral relations to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. In many ways the SRV has copied the policies and practices of the PRC in the fields of one-party dictatorship, human rights violations and infiltrations by way of the so-called enhanced people-to-people relations.
Australia and the Australian people should not allow themselves to be misled by what the Chinese Communist Party (The CCP) and the Vietnamese Communist Party (The VCP) leadership claim by watching what they really do. Whatever in China which Australia is opposed to, Australia should do the same vis-à-vis communist Vietnam.
Regards,
Mr Cong LE,
National President for the Vietnamese Community in Australia (VCA)
