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A senior Australian official has travelled to Taiwan for high-level talks on countering Chinese cyber threats, amid growing pushback from Beijing against any diplomatic contact with the democratic island.
The ABC can reveal Brendan Dowling, the ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, told government figures in Taipei this week that Australia wanted to increase cooperation and understanding on mutual concerns.
Mr Dowling, who joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) after serving in the Home Affairs Department, is believed to be the most senior Australian government representative to visit Taiwan since the 2022 federal election.
In a keynote speech at the Global Cooperation Training Framework (GCTF) conference, the ambassador noted that “security and prosperity of the region that Taiwan and Australia share rests on a foundation of shared cyber security”.
“This should not be viewed as a technology issue, but as a core foreign and strategic policy issue,” the DFAT official told the international gathering, according to diplomatic figures familiar with the presentation.
“We are in a potentially dangerous new phase of cyber security – the scale and sophistication of threats is increasing,” Mr Dowling warned during a workshop discussion entitled Resilience in Telecommunications and Cybersecurity.
Diplomatic sources have confirmed Mr Dowling also discussed Beijing’s growing use of grey zone warfare during meetings with members of Taiwan’s National Security Council and officials from the country’s cyber agency.
Under the long-standing and bipartisan One China Policy, successive Australian governments have not recognised Taiwan as a country but have maintained unofficial contacts with the democratic island promoting economic, trade and cultural interests.
A DFAT spokesperson declined to comment on which officials Mr Dowling had met with in Taipei but told the ABC the visit was consistent with past diplomatic practice.
“Australia values its deep and productive unofficial relationship with Taiwan, which includes exchanges on trade and investment, people-to-people ties and regional security,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
“Australian officials regularly travel to Taiwan to support and advance our relationship in areas of mutual interest.”
Last year, Mr Dowling was confronted by a representative of the Chinese embassy after he told a gathering of diplomats in Canberra that Beijing was responsible for a series of damaging cyber-attacks on Australia.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan delegation of Australian politicians attended the inauguration of Taiwan’s President Dr Lai Ching-te, drawing a forceful warning from China about risking relations with Beijing, over the territory it claims as its own.
Last week, the Chinese consulate in Sydney raised concerns with New South Wales politicians about their attendance at an event celebrating the election of Taiwan’s new president and vice-president, prompting a strong rebuke from Premier Chris Minns.
