Arabic version: دبلوماسيون صينيون يغادرون مؤتمر حزب العمال بسبب مراقبي تايوان
According to ABC News, Chinese diplomats left Labor’s national conference in Adelaide after requesting that two representatives from Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Canberra be removed from the venue. The Taiwanese officials were attending as general observers.
Three Chinese diplomats who were observing the conference confronted ALP National Secretary Paul Erickson on Thursday morning and demanded the representatives from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia be ejected. The ALP confirmed that Mr Erickson told them the Taiwanese representatives were entitled to attend as observers and would be allowed to remain.
Multiple sources told ABC News that the Chinese delegation departed in the hours after the exchange and did not join other foreign diplomats and political representatives watching the conference that afternoon. It was not clear whether the departure was intended as a deliberate protest, although other diplomatic observers said it was difficult to interpret it differently. One Labor delegate said China had effectively staged a walk-out.
An ALP spokesperson declined to say whether the delegation gave a reason for leaving, saying that was a question for the Chinese Embassy. ABC News said it had asked the embassy why its diplomats left, but it had not received a response. The broadcaster also asked the foreign minister’s office whether China had lodged any official diplomatic protests with Australia.
Mark Harrison, a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Tasmania, said Australia’s One China policy did not prevent political parties from allowing Taiwanese observers to attend. He said the policy applies to the national government and that a political party was not bound by it.
