肖千大使在中澳媒体新年酒会上的致辞
Remarks by Ambassador Xiao Qian at the New Year Reception of Chinese and Australian Media
2023年1月11日
11 January 2023
各位媒体朋友们，
女士们、先生们，
Friends from the media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
大家中午好！我谨代表中国驻澳大利亚大使馆向各位致以新年的问候和祝福。感谢你们前来参加酒会，感谢你们对中澳友好关系的重视和支持。
Good afternoon! On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to extend my New Year greetings and best wishes to all of you. Thank you for coming to the reception, and for your attention and support to the friendly relations between China and Australia.
首先，我想说，2022年对于中澳关系是不平凡的一年。在中澳双方共同努力之下，中澳关系在经历困难后趋稳向好，对此我愿意用四个关键词来加以形容。
2022 was an extraordinary year for China-Australia relations. Thanks to the efforts from both sides, China-Australia relations have gone through difficulties and regained positive momentum, which could be described with four keywords.
第一个关键词是“澳大利亚工党政府”。工党政府去年5月就职，中澳双方以此为契机展开接触。双方领导人互致函电，两国防长、外长相继会面，双方通过外交渠道也进行了不同层次的沟通。通过上述接触，双方就坚持中澳全面战略伙伴关系基本定位、致力于开展建设性合作、妥处分歧等一系列指导两国关系发展的重大原则进行了“再确认”。必须强调的是，我们能够以建设性的方式解决分歧，不能让分歧劫持两国整体关系，不能让分歧劫持两国合作。此外，两国还就共同庆祝建交50周年以及地区、国际事务、多边主义等达成很多共识。
The first keyword is the Labor government. As soon as the Labor government came to power last May, the both sides took the opportunity, and reached or reconfirmed some of the consensus. We saw a change of situation, like exchange of messages and letters from leaders of China and Australia, bilateral meetings between the defence ministers, bilateral meetings between the two foreign ministers, and of course, contacts through diplomatic channels at various levels. Through all these contacts, both sides have reconfirmed or reaffirmed some of the important points, which have been guiding the relationship of our two countries for the past several decades. It’s very important for us to reconfirm that these are still the consensus. Both sides agree that the consensus include, for example, comprehensive strategic partnership. This is how we define the relationship. They include that both sides are ready to work constructively, to cooperate, wherever, in the areas where we have common ground. They include that both sides agree to handle differences appropriately. We do have differences, in certain respects. We even have disputes. It’s just in specific areas, like trade disputes. But both sides agreed to address these differences in a constructive manner. By that I mean, we can address the differences in a way that will not allow the differences to hijack the overall relationship with our two countries, not to hijack the cooperation with our two countries. The consensus also includes jointly celebrating the 50th Anniversary of establishment of our diplomatic relations. Of course, we also have common points in many other areas, in regional issues, international issues, multilateralism, et cetera.
第二个关键词是“领导人会晤”。中澳双方经过数月的沟通，彼此达成重要共识。去年11月，习近平主席在印尼巴厘岛会见了阿尔巴尼斯总理。此次领导人会晤是积极、建设性和富有成效的，为未来双边关系发展框定了方向、奠定了基调。正如习主席在会见阿尔巴尼斯总理时指出，中澳两国应共同努力改善、维护、发展好两国关系。根据我的理解，所谓改善，就是中澳关系最近几年被一些困难所困扰，双方都需要采取行动来克服这些困难。两国可以就这些问题交换意见，讨论如何进一步改进。所谓维护，是双方存在分歧，我们应该讨论如何管控分歧，同时推动双边关系。所谓发展，是双方不应对当前的成绩感到自满。两国应该展望未来，不仅要在所有可能的领域恢复现有合作，还要探索新的合作领域。例如，两国政府都致力于应对气候变化，这都是两国可以合作或探索的新领域。另外，绿色能源发展势头迅猛，中澳在此方面合作潜力巨大，特别是在锂电池、电动车等行业互补性很强，可以就绿色基础设施等探索一些新的合作领域。澳大利亚是发达国家，生活条件良好，基础设施完备。然而，人们期待更好的生活、更好的环境、更好的基础设施。中澳两国可以在这些方面携手合作。
The second keyword, I would like to say, is the leaders’ meeting. Based on the consensus reached between the two sides, after a couple of months of communication, we had a very successful bilateral meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Albanese on the sideline of the G20 Summit in Bali of Indonesia. It was positive, constructive and effective. It set up the tone for the relationship between our two countries. It set up the directions for the future relationship. As President Xi put it during his meeting with Prime Minister Albanese, “This is a relationship important for both sides, and both sides should work together to improve, to uphold and to develop the relationship.”
My understanding is that, by improvement, we understand that we have been going through some difficult periods of time. We need to do something to make up for those issues. There are a couple of issues, we can compare notes and see how we can continue to work on. By upholding, we understand there are differences and we should talk about how to manage our differences while at the same time develop our relationship. By development, my understanding is that we shall not be complacent when we are here. We should look into the future. Not only are we going to resume the existing cooperations in wherever possible areas we have been working on, we should also explore the new frontiers, for example, climate change. Both governments have commitment to climate change or dealing with climate change. These are the areas we can collaborate or explore with the cooperation. For example, green energy. There’s a strong momentum. There’s a strong potential for China and Australia to collaborate. For example, Lithium-based batteries, electric cars, on EV, and EV cars. There’s such strong complementarity between our two countries. This is an area where I believe we could be exploring some new frontiers of cooperation, like green infrastructure. Australia is a developed country, where it will go, I think, is very marvelous at the wonderful facility we are having, in all respects. But people are looking forward to an even better life, an even better environment, even better infrastructure. Together China and Australia, we can cooperate in this area.
第三个关键词是“外长会谈”。黄英贤外长于去年12月成功访华，中央政治局委员、国务委员、时任外长王毅与其举行第六轮中澳外交与战略对话。双方就下阶段改善和发展中澳关系的具体举措充分交换意见，并在会谈后发表成果联合声明。成果联合声明字数虽然不多，但内容丰富，为落实两国领导人巴厘岛会晤共识、推动下阶段中澳关系改善和发展制定路线图。双方同意保持高层交往，启动或重启双边关系、经贸问题、领事事务、气候变化、防务、地区和国际问题等领域对话沟通，同意支持两国人文交流和商业互访。
The third keyword, I would like to say, is the foreign ministers’ meeting. Senator Penny Wong paid a successful visit to Beijing, before Christmas, and we’re grateful that she did make the visit. And the Chinese side also showed our hospitality to welcome her, even though we were in a little bit difficulty in dealing with our new wave of pandemic in Beijing, during that particular period of time. But the visit went very successfully. They conducted the sixth round of China/Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue. That is something of the mechanism between the two foreign ministries. It had been there for several years and then stopped for a couple of years because of the reasons known to all.
This round of dialogue turned out to be very successful. The Politburo member, State councilor, and then Foreign Minister, Mr. Wang Yi and Senator Penny Wong had a wide range of discussions on many issues, and they reached a lot of consensus, and they publicized a joint outcome statement. Very short, very brief, very important. Basically, it’s a paper to lay out a roadmap for both sides to implement the consensus reached by President Xi and Prime Minister Albanese during the Bali meeting. And specifically, we will commence or restart many of the bilateral dialogues, mechanisms, consultations, covering a wide range of areas, bilateral relationship, trade, economics, investment, climate change, regional issues, global issues, et cetera. This visit is very important. It’s the guideline for the future of our relationship.
第四个关键词是“中澳建交50周年”。如我刚才所说，中澳双方同意共同庆祝中澳建交50周年。中澳领导人就两国建交50周年互致贺电或贺函。澳政府在悉尼隆重举办纪念澳中建交50周年官方晚宴。阿尔巴尼斯总理发表视频致辞，黄英贤外长发表主旨演讲，向中澳民众发出强烈积极信息。我本人、中国驻澳各总领馆负责人和使馆高级外交官出席活动。随后不久，我在中国驻澳使馆举办庆祝中澳建交50周年招待会。黄英贤外长在访华期间还同王毅国务委员一同出席了庆祝中澳建交50周年纪念封首发仪式。
The fourth keyword is the 50th Anniversary, as I mentioned. There is an agreement between the two sides to jointly celebrate that, and we did. The Australian side held a very successful reception, grand reception, in Sydney. Many of my colleagues and five Chinese Consul-generals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth attended. It was a very successful celebration. Prime Minister Albanese gracefully attended, by delivering a great video speech. Senator Penny Wong attended and delivered a wonderful speech, sending out very strong, very positive messages to the Australian public, and to the Chinese public. The Chinese side, here in the Embassy, I myself also hosted a reception in this beautiful compound, immediately, in early December. There was a plan to hold the reception in Beijing, to be attended by senior leaders from the Chinese side, but unfortunately, they had to be postponed because of the COVID situation in Beijing. But, during the visit by Senator Penny Wong, there was a joint publication of commemorative cover celebrating the 50 years.
以上是我对过去一年中澳关系发展的简要回顾。可以看到，一年来两国关系取得积极、建设性和富有成效的发展，我们应该对此表示祝贺。
So, that was about the past one year of our bilateral relationship. You can see that we have achieved a lot. It’s not a short time, it is not a long time, but we have achieved a lot in a good enough way to celebrate a very positive, constructive and effective year, the year of 2022.
第二，我要对媒体朋友们给予我本人及中国使馆的支持与合作表示感谢。媒体是中澳两国人民加强相互了解、增进友谊的桥梁。我注意到，每天澳各大报纸都有十几条涉华报道，电视台也滚动播出与中国相关的新闻，这充分说明了澳媒体对中国和中澳关系的高度关注。我重视同澳媒体进行交流。我去年到任不久，中国使馆先后举办“长城纪念章”颁授仪式，中国国际科技合作奖颁授仪式，北京冬奥会、冬残奥会成功举办庆祝活动，我得以结识不少媒体朋友。我还专门参访澳柒集团总部、ABC总部，同澳柒集团掌门人和ABC管理层、编辑记者深入交流。
The second layer, I want to express my gratitude to all of you, friends from the media. The media has been playing a role of a bridge, linking our two countries’ transformations, and helping our two sides to understand each other better and build up more friendship. I noticed, ever since I came here, about a year ago, that the people in this country are very much following the situation of China, of the relations between China and Australia.
There’s a wide range of consistent coverage of news about China, about China-Australia relations. Almost each and every day, we have something. Articles, newspapers, or television programs talking about China, about our relationship. Communication with the Australian media is high on my agenda. Shortly after I took office last year, my Embassy organized the Great Wall Commemorative Medal Presentation Ceremony, the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award Ceremony, and an event to celebrate the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and I was able to make many media friends. I paid visits to the headquarters of the Seven Group and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where I had in-depth exchanges with the head of the Seven Group and ABC management, editors and journalists.
我重视通过媒体向澳社会各界发出中国声音、传递友好信息。我多次在《澳金融评论报》等报纸刊登署名文章，就中澳关系、中国共产党第二十次全国代表大会发表看法。《澳人报》《堪培拉时报》《澳洲新报》还刊发庆祝中澳建交50周年专刊，为两国关系重要时刻喝彩祝福。我们同媒体一道，共同为中澳关系向好发展创造良好舆论氛围。去年8月，我应邀在澳国家新闻俱乐部发表演讲并接受媒体提问。我还接受ABC、天空新闻、《悉尼晨锋报》《西澳人报》等澳媒体以及凤凰卫视、人民网的专访。新华社、CGTN、人民日报关于我访问各州的报道被澳媒体和西方媒体广泛引用，反响热烈。我馆新闻参赞及新闻团队也同媒体朋友们进行了广泛接触互动。
I tried to send out China’s voice and friendly messages to all sectors of Australia through the media. I have published many articles in newspapers such as The Australian Financial Review, expressing my views on China-Australia relations and the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The Australian, The Canberra Times and The Australian Chinese Daily also published special issues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of China-Australia diplomatic relations, sending congratulations and best wishes at the important moment in our relationship. We are working with the media to create a favourable public opinion atmosphere for the sound development of China-Australia relations. Last August, I was invited to address the National Press Club and answer questions from the media. I also had interviews with the ABC, Sky News, The Sydney Morning Herald, The West Australian and other Australian media, as well as Phoenix TV and People’s Daily Online. Reports on my visit to the Australian states by Xinhua, CGTN and People’s Daily were widely quoted and well received in the Australian and Western media. My Press Counsellor and the press team have also had extensive engagements with our media friends. Here I would like to thank our media friends for the support and cooperation you have accorded to me and my Embassy.
当前，中澳关系正处于向好转化的关键时期，两国民众增进彼此了解的兴趣与时俱进。希望广大媒体继续坚持客观理性、平衡公正，促进两国民心相通，同我们一道讲好友好合作、互利共赢的中澳故事，推动双边关系向前发展。
Currently, the China-Australia relationship is at a critical stage of turnaround, and our people’s interest to enhance mutual understanding is growing by the day. I hope the Australian media will continue to be objective, rational, balanced and impartial, and promote people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. Together we can tell the vivid stories of China-Australia friendship and win-win cooperation, and help push the bilateral relations forward.
女士们，先生们，
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2022年对于中国也是承前启后的关键一年。以习近平同志为核心的党中央团结带领全党全国各族人民，统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展，推动党和国家事业取得新的成就。特别是中国共产党第二十次全国代表大会胜利召开，为全面建设社会主义现代化国家、全面推进中华民族伟大复兴擘画了宏伟蓝图，为变乱交织的世界提供了宝贵的确定性和稳定性。中国始终坚持维护世界和平、促进共同发展的外交政策宗旨，致力于推动构建人类命运共同体。中国将继续致力于同世界各国友好相处、共建共享、合作共赢，继续为维护世界和平凝聚力量，为促进世界稳定夯实基础，为全球发展注入强大动力。
2022 is also a critical year for China to build on past achievements and open up new prospects. The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core, has united and led the entire Party and the entire nation to coordinate pandemic response with economic and social development, and work for new achievements in the cause of the Party and the country. Particularly, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held successfully. The Congress drew blueprints to build a modern socialist China and to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It has injected invaluable certainty and stability into a turbulent world. China will adhere to a foreign policy that maintains world peace and promotes common development. China is committed to building a community of share future for mankind, and will continue to develop friendly relations with countries in the world in the spirit of joint contribution, win-win cooperation and shared benefits.
中国开启全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程，为中国经济奠定了长期向好的基本面。2022年前三季度，中国GDP增长3.0%，三季度增长3.9%，国民经济恢复向好。随着形势发展，中国近3年积累的需求将充分释放，新近出台的一系列政策也将产生叠加效应，预计今年中国经济将呈现明显复苏增长势头。我相信，充满韧性和潜力的中国经济必将持续繁荣，为包括澳大利亚在内的世界各国带来重要机遇和重大利好。
China has embarked on a new journey toward a modern socialist country, building on its strong long-term economic fundamentals. In the first three quarters of 2022, China’s GDP grew by 3% year-on-year, and 3.9% for the 3rd quarter. China’s economy has shown positive signs of recovery. As China’s situation improves, the pent-up demand over the past 3 years will be fully released. Amplified by the recent policy measures, China’s economy is expected to gain stronger growth momentum this year. I am confident that with great resilience and potential, the Chinese economy will enjoy prosperity, bring opportunities and deliver major benefits to Australia and countries across the world.
2022年末，中国政府对新冠病毒感染疫情防控政策进行了优化调整。三年来，中国有效应对了全球多轮疫情流行冲击，极大减少了重症和死亡。同时，中国一直积极参与国际抗疫合作，第一时间同国际社会共同应对疫情挑战。当前，奥密克戎变异株致病力和毒力明显减弱，而中国医疗救治、病原检测、疫苗接种等能力持续提升。为最大程度保障人民生命安全和身体健康，最大限度减少疫情对经济社会发展的影响，中方因时因势主动优化抗疫举措，将工作重心逐步从防控感染转向防重症、保健康，决定对新型冠状病毒感染实施乙类乙管，并出台中外人员往来暂行措施。我们将继续因应疫情形势，不断优化调整防控措施，更好保障对外交流合作。
In late 2022, the Chinese government refined its COVID-19 policy. Over the past three years, China has effectively dealt with the impact of multiple COVID waves, and greatly reduced severe cases and deaths. At the same time, China has been actively engaged in international cooperation, and joined the international community in addressing the COVID challenges from the very beginning. While the Omicron variant is much less pathogenic, China’s capacities in treatment, testing and vaccination have steadily enhanced. In this context, China has taken the initiative to refine its COVID response measures, with an aim to protecting the lives and health of the people, and reducing the impact on economic and social development to a minimum. The focus of the response has shifted from stemming infection to preventing severe cases and caring for health. China has made the decision to manage COVID-19 with measures against Class-B instead of the more serious Class-A infectious diseases. Provisional measures on cross-border travel have been adopted. We will continue to adapt and adjust our response measures in light of the latest COVID situation, and better facilitate international exchange and cooperation.
世界各国调整防疫政策时都会经历适应期，中国防疫政策“换挡”也不例外。目前中国的疫情防控形势是可预判、可控的。中方始终认为，各国的防疫措施应当科学适度，没有必要针对中国采取特别入境限制，不应借机搞政治操弄，不应有歧视性做法，不应影响正常的人员交往和交流合作。我们愿继续同国际社会团结合作，更好应对疫情挑战，更好保护人民生命健康。我们对走好“最后一公里”，最终战胜疫情有充分的能力和信心。
Countries adjusting their COVID policies would invariably go through a period of adaptation. China is no exception as we “shift gear” in the COVID response. China’s COVID situation on the whole remains predictable and under control. China always believes that for all countries, response measures need to be science-based and proportionate. Entry restrictions targeting China are unnecessary. Response measures should not affect normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation. There should not be discriminatory measures, and still less should the measures be used for political manipulation. China stands ready to work with the international community in solidarity, tackle the COVID challenges more effectively, and better protect people’s lives and health. We are fully capable and confident that we will be able to finish the “last mile” and eventually prevail.
再过12天，我们即将迎来中国的兔年。根据中国文化，兔是机敏和幸运的象征，兔年也被认为是跨越障碍、福星高照之年。希望新的一年里，中澳双方继续超越分歧，相互尊重，互利共赢，推动两国关系重回正确轨道并可持续地向前发展。
In 12 days, we will be celebrating the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. In Chinese culture, the Rabbit symbolizes agility and luck. The Year of the Rabbit is considered to be the year of jumping over obstacles and coming into luck. In the New Year, I hope China and Australia will continue to rise above differences, respect each other and work together for mutual benefit, so that our relationship can get back on the right track and move forward in a sustainable manner.
最后，让我们共同举杯，祝大家身体健康、事业有成！祝中澳友谊地久天长！
To conclude, allow me to propose a toast to your good health and success, to China-Australia friendship!
干杯！
Cheers!