INTERVIEW/Taiwan's top envoy to Australia seeks cooperation on minerals, drones

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) As Australia looks to recalibrate its economic relationship with China, Taipei is hoping to strengthen bilateral ties and partner with Canberra in such areas as critical minerals and drones, said Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), Taiwan's representative to Australia.

Hsu, who assumed his post in August 2023 and recently returned to Taipei for a routine debriefing, told CNA in an interview Wednesday that Australia has in recent years begun to realize it should reduce its economic reliance on China, its largest trading partner.

With that in mind, Hsu said he has been trying to convince Australia to engage Taiwan "on its own merit," rather than treating it as a subordinate issue in its relationship with China.

In fact, Hsu said, Canberra is now more willing to engage with Taiwan, though less publicly, after learning the hard way from Beijing's carrot-and-stick approach.

Asked to name some areas for further bilateral collaboration, Hsu said many countries around the world, including Taiwan, have learned the importance of breaking China's near-complete hold on critical minerals.

Australia has significant reserves of almost all key critical minerals, and Taiwan looks forward to closer bilateral cooperation in this area, the envoy said.

Though he admitted that Taiwan currently lacks expertise in the mining industry, he noted that a critical minerals pact signed by the U.S. and Australia late last year provides a potential framework to follow in promoting possible cooperation.

Other areas for closer partnership include drones, underwater drones and anti-drone systems, Hsu said.

Hsu cited Taiwan's advanced AI capabilities and reputation as a reliable partner as a possible selling point for Australia.

Australia's awakening

According to Hsu, relations between Canberra and Beijing first soured in 2020 after Australia called for an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

Beijing claimed the move was politically motivated and imposed high tariffs on Australian lobster, wine and coal, and did not lift those tariffs until 2024 as relations improved.

Though China's punitive tariffs came to an end, its steady economic coercion has gradually awakened the Australian government, Hsu said.

Canberra has also cracked down on several Chinese espionage cases in recent years, forcing it to take warnings issued by other democratic partners on the issue more seriously, he said.

Given these factors and geopolitical shifts since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, Canberra has been forced to look for other reliable democratic partners amid rising Chinese influence in the South Pacific, Hsu argued.

Taiwan has been among Australia's top 10 trading partners for years, and Canberra is beginning to realize that it should invest more in enhancing relations between the two sides, according to Hsu.

Beyond further collaboration in the economic realm, Hsu said Taiwan's extensive experience in countering Chinese infiltration campaigns could be another area of cooperation.