Former PM Morrison calls for one China policy shake-up

The policy is a position that does not recognise Taiwan as an official nation but as a province of China, operating under different governance.

Australia follows the United States' strategic ambiguity policy when it comes to Taiwan, not saying what it could do if Beijing tries to forcefully reintegrate the island under its control by force.

The policy came about to protect the status quo and safeguard against conflict in the region.

But former prime minister Scott Morrison says this needs a rethink with the current arrangement being inadequate to protect the status quo against an increasingly assertive and authoritarian communist government under President Xi Jinping.

Beijing's "incessant threatening of Taiwan" coupled with the island nation's successful pathway towards democracy puts pressure on the one China policy, Mr Morrison said.

The Taiwanese people would never willingly choose to subjugate themselves to China's controlling tactics with Beijing strengthening its stranglehold on freedom since the initial policy was agreed to 50 years ago, he said.

Any violation or subjugation of Taiwan would "obliterate" the balance in the region, "radically altering the security environment within the Indo-Pacific," he said.

Any occupation would allow China to project its military might beyond the first island chain and deeper into the Pacific.

"One can reasonably ask, if Taiwan, then what and who is next?" Mr Morrison said in a speech to the Yushan Forum in Taipei.

Coupled with Russian aggression, it would also "reset the balance of the international order in favour of autocracy and authoritarianism".

As such, "the future of Taiwan is inextricably linked to all our futures and the peace, security and freedom of the world we live in," he said.

Mr Morrison said his call to provide aid to Ukraine after Russia's invasion was as much a decision to protect Kyiv as it was to resist authoritarianism, "especially given the tacit endorsement of the invasion by Beijing".

"I was as concerned about Beijing as I was about Moscow," he said.

Preserving the status quo and avoiding conflict would include adding Taiwan as a non-state member to international forums and treaties such as the Pacific free trade agreement, Interpol and the World Health Organisation, Mr Morrison argued.

Having Taipei engage with multilateral forums such as the Quad could also enhance its autonomy "without crossing the threshold of national statehood".

The scope and nature of unofficial Canberra-Taipei relations also needed to be broadened as it was clear "Beijing is not for changing".

Mr Morrison said boosting Taiwan's ability to protect itself both militarily and economically was increasingly urgent.

"This includes not only to ward off an invasion but to survive a blockade," he said.

"Peace is not just the absence of conflict but the presence of freedom."

Australian Associated Press