Recently, the Chinese Communist Party announced unilateral visa exemption for Australia. However, the Australian government still considers China a high-risk area.
During his visit to Australia on June 17th, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stated that Australia would be included in China’s list of visa-exempt countries.
On June 25th, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs further announced the expansion of visa exemptions to include New Zealand, Australia, and Poland. From July 1st of this year to December 31st of next year, citizens of the aforementioned countries holding ordinary passports can enter China for business, tourism, visiting relatives, or transit for up to 15 days without a visa.
However, the latest overseas travel guide from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smartraveller indicates that China is still considered a high-risk country.
The latest travel guide concerning China states: “We have reviewed recommendations regarding China and continue to advise maintaining a high degree of vigilance. As previously suggested, authorities detain foreign nationals on grounds of ‘endangering national security.’ Australians may face risks of arbitrary detention or excessive enforcement, including under the broadly defined ‘National Security Law.'”
Professor Feng Chongyi from the University of Technology Sydney, in an interview with Voice of America, expressed that many policies of China are contradictory. On one hand, the economy is declining, foreign investments are withdrawing, and foreign tourists are scarce, causing anxiety. Simultaneously, China is implementing national security and anti-spy laws, arbitrarily detaining individuals and introducing new policies such as inspecting phones of foreigners upon entry, creating a sense of insecurity. Despite the new visa exemption policy, it is likely that few would dare to visit.
Feng Chongyi pointed out that China still poses many intimidations to Australia, especially regarding the treatment of innocent Australian citizen Yang Hengjun – fabricating a spy charge against him and sentencing him to death with reprieve. This action is unacceptable to Australia. According to a visit from the Australian consulate, Yang’s health is in critical condition with a life-threatening cyst. If China wishes to improve relations, for humanitarian purposes, it should commute his sentence and deport him to Australia to reside there, thus providing Australia with a pathway, as previously done for some political prisoners by the United States, which China is currently not taking.
Feng Chongyi provided an example of a travel agency owner and a mining company owner who went to China in the past and ended up being thrown into jail. He mentioned that the new Anti-spy Law in China is even broader than when Yang Hengjun was detained, encompassing commercial secrets, historical documents, and anything considered a state secret, posing a significant threat to Australians. The unpredictability and lack of transparency in the Chinese judiciary system further compound the risks.
Human rights activist Zhang Xiaogang also told Voice of America, “The Chinese Communist Party easily engages in hostage diplomacy. For political needs, it can anytime arrest some Australians – within its controlled territories of mainland China and Hong Kong – to use them as a means of blackmail against the Australian government. Therefore, this risk is constantly present because China is not a country governed by the rule of law. Even though Australians have this 15-day visa exemption, the risk must be taken into consideration.”