China’s top diplomat has continued to heap criticism on Australia after the Albanese government banned the AI chatbot DeepSeek from government devices on national security grounds in early February.
The mandatory direction from the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, delivered under the Protective Security Policy Framework, which came into effect immediately, was lashed by China’s Foreign Ministry.
On Monday, as three Chinese warships tracked closer to Perth, China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian accused the Albanese government of attempting to “overstretch” the definition of national security by taking restrictive measures under the pretext of “security risks”.
Mr Qian wrote in The Australian the Albanese government was attempting to politicise trade and technology issues, echoing the initial criticisms made by China’s Foreign Ministry.
The Chinese diplomat listed the positive aspects of DeepSeek which the Albanese government had dismissed, and denied DeepSeek was a security threat.
“China extremely prioritises data security in AI development,” Mr Qian wrote.
“China’s government attaches great importance to data security and has always adhered to the rule of law in protecting data.
“It has never required, nor will it require, companies or individuals to collect or store data illegally.”
In a statement released in February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly denied the app was being used to collect data.
“The Chinese government … has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data,” the statement said.
Mr Qian also appealed to Australia and China’s track record on trade and international cooperation and said to gain a competitive edge in the future, both countries “must embrace openness and integration in … technological development trends”.
“China is ready to work with Australia to enhance mutual understanding and trust … and jointly build an open, inclusive, equitable, secure and non-discriminatory AI development environment,” he wrote.
However, a SkyNews.com.au special report tested the new system DeepSeek in January and discovered the AI malfunctioned when asked about Uyghur Muslims and still thought Sky News journalist Cheng Lei was languishing in Chinese detention.
When asked if Taiwan is independent from China, DeepSeek stressed the Chinese government’s One-China principle and even called Taiwanese independence a “serious challenge to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
It operated in a strange manner when questioned about Uyghur Muslims, who China has been accused of committing human rights abuses against.
“Who are the Uyghurs and what can you tell me about those who live in China?” SkyNews.com.au asked DeepSeek.
The AI provided SkyNews.com.au a brief answer covering the ethnic groups’ history, culture and the controversies surrounding the Chinese government’s treatment of them before scrapping the answer and asking the user to discuss a different topic.
“Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else,” DeepSeek said.
It responds similarly when asked about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
Mr Qian’s fresh criticism of the Australian government comes in the weeks before the federal election and as three Chinese warships, which caused an intense national security and political stir the past week, are expected to circumnavigate Australia.
The warships are expected to be making their way to their next destination, Perth.
The Chinese warships have also revealed a chink in Australia’s naval capability as the taskforce circumnavigates the mainland without requiring a fuel stop.
The Chinese task group includes a Fuchi-class fuel replenishment vessel which allows the trio of ships to continue to operate without needing to dock at a local port.
One former navy officer spoke to The Australian under anonymity and said Australia lacks replenishment vessels and that shadowing the Chinese vessels over 2000 nautical miles between Perth and Darwin would be a significant challenge due to the lack of port infrastructure along that stretch of coast.
On Sunday, it was revealed China secretly notified one of Australia’s closest allies, Papua New Guinea, weeks before its navy conducted live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea without notifying Australia in advance.
