Chinese Minister to Australia Wang lining recently called Australians who criticize China “scum” and said that it is now very difficult to be a friend of China in Australia. Wang’s remarks have been refuted by various sectors in Australia. Australian experts on China said Wang had confused China with the “Chinese Communist Party“. He said it is indeed difficult to be a friend of the Chinese Communist Party in Australia now.
“I’m proud to be seen as ‘scum’ by you.”
Wang gave a speech titled “It’s hard to be a friend of China in Australia now,” at the annual dinner of the Australian China Business Council Capital Chapter on Feb. 25.
He said, “Some old friends of China are often called ‘panda huggers’ by some people, as if being friendly to China is a sin, and only blowing up at China is the proper posture for Australians to take to win the hearts and minds of the people. It’s too hard to be a friend of China in Australia today!”
Wang went on to call Australians who criticize the Chinese Communist Party “scum” and said their descendants would be ashamed. He said those who “deliberately slander and defame China, undermine the friendship between China and Australia, and damage the well-being of both peoples will be reviled by the world, and their descendants will be ashamed to mention their negative role in history.
On March 1, the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Australia published his speech in English and Chinese. Interestingly, in the English translation, the word “scum” was removed.
However, this detail was not lost on the Australians. Australian academic Clive Hamilton told Voice of America that Wang’s words were “picking up stones and smashing his own feet.
He said, “His words will anger more Australians, including those at the top, and make them hostile to Beijing. People don’t like to be insulted and told what to do. So they will push back and become more hostile, more aggressive and more insulting, but the Chinese government is imposing greater penalties on Australian industry. I don’t know what kind of strategy they’re using to do that. In fact, it has greatly damaged the image of China in Australia. “
The Spectator’s Australian edition published an article Friday signed by Arthur Chrenkoff saying, “Well done, China, but I’m proud you see me as scum.”
In the article, Chrenkoff said that if criticizing the Chinese Communist Party is “scum,” then “Mr. Wang, please count me in.”
Korenkov noted that the CCP has always cleverly presented itself as synonymous with “China” or “the Chinese people.” “It [the CCP] first falsely portrays China as a whole, uniting the country, the people and the government as one, and then, by blurring the lines between the three, portrays any criticism as an attack on China.”
Korenkopf said no one is insulting China as a country or the Chinese people as a whole; the problem is the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a party that fears the world and its own people, he said, otherwise it should welcome popular judgment and accountability through free democratic elections.
He said that while the CCP no longer kills as many people as it once did (between 1949 and 1976, some 60 million Chinese were killed or died in famine or political campaigns, about two and a half times the population of Australia), it still denies its citizens all human rights and oppresses minorities and dissidents. In Xinjiang, it has placed a million Uighurs in concentration camps. Meanwhile, China’s foreign expansionist ambitions are growing. Not only does China covet the territory of its neighbors, but it also wants to be a superpower and lead the world. Pointing this out is not an insult to China, he said, but reveals the nature of the Chinese government.
In his article, Korenkov also singled out the Communist Party’s ban on discussing universal values, freedom of speech, civil society, civil rights, the historical mistakes of the Chinese Communist Party, the powerful bourgeoisie and the independence of the judiciary, the famous “seven no’s.”
If representing universal values, freedom of speech, civil society, civil rights and judicial independence (and opposing dictatorship, genocide and corruption), whether for the Australian or Chinese people, is scum, then yes, I am proud of such scum,” he said.
The article by Kollenkopf was reprinted in several Australian media outlets.
On March 2, Michael Shoebridge, director of defense strategy and security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), tweeted, “Perhaps you (Wang Lining) don’t fully agree with our model of governance and management. But Wang evades the root causes of China’s problems with the world, namely what the government does to its own citizen journalists, to Hong Kong people, to Uighurs, and to others, as well as cyber-hacking, economic coercion, and military action (against other countries).
Being a friend of the Chinese Communist Party is indeed a bit difficult in Australia at the moment
Clive Hamilton, an Australian academic, told VOA that it is not hard to be a friend of China in Australia right now, but it is a little bit harder to be a friend of the Chinese Communist Party.
I don’t think Australians who are friends with China have any problems, but those who are friends with the Chinese Communist Party, on the other hand, do have problems,” he said. …… Now in Australia, attitudes toward the Chinese government in general have become quite negative. This means that any Australian who now defends the actions of the CCP and the Chinese government is suspect and, in some cases, hostile. In that sense, what the Chinese minister to Australia said is true.”
Hamilton published a book in 2018 titled “The Silent Invasion: How China Turned Australia into a Puppet State,” in which Hamilton said China is a “totalitarian regime bent on controlling Australia.” The book has since sparked fierce controversy among Australians. Some welcomed the discussion of Chinese influence, though others feared it could spark xenophobia.
Over the years, China has built many relationships and exerted considerable influence in Australian politics, business and academia. But Beijing’s increasingly assertive style and the rapid modernization of China’s military have worried Australian politicians. 2017 marked a turning point in Sino-Australian relations. That year, Australia introduced new laws banning foreign political donations to prevent foreign interference, and at the Time, officials also warned of Chinese attempts to influence the political process in Canberra.
In 2020, Sino-Australian relations continued to deteriorate, reaching an all-time low. Since Australia called for an international investigation into the origin of the New Coronavirus and criticised China’s policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, China has retaliated with a series of high-profile restrictions on imports of Australian products or punitive tariffs, affecting products such as Australian beef, coal and wine and seafood.
In November 2020, the Chinese embassy in Australia also dedicated a list of 14 Australian crimes, including: the Australian government’s funding of “anti-China” research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; raiding Chinese journalists and revoking the visas of academics; “leading” references to Taiwan and Hong Kong in multilateral forums; and ” references to Chinese affairs involving Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang; instigating an independent investigation into the origins of the new crown pneumonia (COVID-19) outbreak; banning Chinese communications equipment company huawei from 5G construction in 2018; blocking 10 Chinese foreign investment deals involving infrastructure, agriculture, and livestock; interfering in the South China Sea; accusing China without evidence of carrying out cyber attacks; racist attacks on Chinese or Asians by Australian parliamentarians, etc.
China said Australia must rectify these issues in order for ministerial engagement to resume. However, the Australian government then responded that Australia was acting in its own interest and would not change its policy.
Hamilton said Australia would not change its relationship with China until Beijing stopped its current threatening, insulting and punitive “international rogue” approach.
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