Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

On Monday,MKsports Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian published an article in The Australian, which some Western outlets, including Bloomberg, interpreted as a response to Australia's decision in early February to ban the use of DeepSeek on government devices. Xiao wrote that taking restrictive measures against it under the pretext of "security risks" is an attempt to overstretch the concept of national security and politicize trade and tech issues.

The article, titled "China a willing AI partner in building bright new world," featured one highlighted sentence: "The world is embarking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and China is ready to work with Australia." It is clear that this is an open, constructive gesture calling for a partnership not only in trade but also in cutting-edge technologies.

Earlier in February, the Australian Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs issued a mandatory direction for all government entities to "prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services and where found remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices," according to Reuters. 

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the decision had not been taken because of the app's country of origin - China - but because of its risk to the government and its assets. Yet this explanation failed to convince many astute observers. From the ban on Huawei's 5G to the crackdown on TikTok on government devices, it seems that DeepSeek is now get caught up in Australia's same tired old script.

The so-called risks are often little more than empty rhetoric. As Warwick Powell, adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology and former advisor to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, told the Global Times that for a number of years now, there has been a persistent public narrative regarding the Chinese threat to Australian national security. The prohibition on Huawei technologies serves as the most egregious case in point, as no substantive evidence has ever been presented to justify the ban. Conversely, while there is widespread recognition that US technology poses substantial risks to Australian privacy and confidential information, the treatment of US technology is comparatively "soft." 

Powell said Australian user data is within the reach of US intelligence and law enforcement agencies - without reciprocal access for Australian authorities. This points to a lax standard or a double standard when it comes to data security in matters of national security.

In other words, the "risk" narrative is merely a smokescreen. Some analysts believe the real objective is to align with Washington's strategy of containing China's tech development. 

Experts have also pointed out that the new US administration has provided a fresh boost to Australia's right-wing forces, giving them renewed momentum to revive the familiar "China threat" narrative. With the 2025 Australian federal election just months away, some politicians are already gearing up to see who can sound tougher in order to win votes.

 Yu Lei, a professor from the Department of International Politics and Economics at Shandong University, told the Global Times that in terms of bilateral cooperation, Australia hopes China fully opens its market to Australian goods - such as iron ore, wine, and lobster - yet resists granting Chinese products, as seen in the latest case of DeepSeek, equal access to its own market. Without a policy adjustment, this imbalance will continue to constrain Australia's growth momentum, Yu said.

While some Australian politicians wield the "national security" stick, real-world tech communities elsewhere are building cross-border networks of cooperation. The surging stock price of Tesla, for instance, is an unmistakable sign of the failure of decoupling approach. 

Australia has already had an alternative: cooperation with China. As Ambassador Xiao put it: As the era of AI accelerates, China is ready to work with Australia to enhance mutual understanding and trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and jointly build an open, inclusive, equitable, secure and non-discriminatory AI development environment. Together, we will explore the vast potential of artificial intelligence and contribute to a brighter intelligent future for the whole world.