Chinese envoy Qian criticises Australia's move to limit AI app DeepSeek

By Ben Westcott

 

China’s ambassador to Australia has warned that a decision to ban artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from government systems and devices risks further politicizing trade and technology ties between the two countries which only recently stabilized bilateral relations.

 

Ambassador Xiao Qian’s comments came as a Chinese naval task force continued to skirt Australia’s territorial waters in an apparently plan to circumnavigate the island nation. The warships 10 days ago held live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.

 

Writing in The Australian newspaper on Monday, Xiao said the Chinese-developed AI program would “greatly benefit the world in various aspects” and encouraged Australia to work with Beijing to jointly develop new technologies. 

 

“Taking restrictive measures against it under the pretext of ‘security risks’ is an attempt to overstretch the concept of national security and politicise trade and tech issues,” the ambassador said in his article.

 

In early February, Australia’s center-left Labour government became one of the first countries in the world to ban DeepSeek from official devices, a decision that it justified on national security grounds. 

 

It was one of a number of moves over the past month that have threatened to sour ties between Australia and its largest trading partner. Canberra and Beijing have both made serious efforts to repair their relationship in the three years since Labor’s election in May 2022.

 

The Chinese naval task force’s surprise decision to hold live-fire drills off Australia’s heavily-populated east coast beginning Feb. 21 has sparked a national debate over whether Canberra has done enough to boost its military preparedness. Australia only learned of the exercises when it was alerted by commercial pilots that had to divert from the area.

 

While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized the lack of notice provided by Beijing, Shadow Defense Minister Andrew Hastie described the exercises as an “overt signal of military strength from the Chinese government, and it’s a reminder to Australians that we can’t take anything for granted.”

 

On Monday morning, the ships were 305 nautical miles (565 kilometers) southeast of Western Australia’s state capital, Perth, according to the Department of Defence.

 

First spotted near Australia’s northern approaches in mid-February, the three-ship task force has now sailed almost two-thirds of the way around the island nation.