Commentary
Issues of relations between Australia and China have been raised several times during the federal campaign. Last month, the Solomon Islands government, just 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Australia’s northeast coast, said Security contract With China.three It has been done again Attention was focused on the apparent ambiguity and obfuscation of Labor Deputy Leader Richard Mars and his dealings with Chinese officials.
Last week, the presence of a Chinese craft ship on the coast of Western Australia (WA) sparked bitter criticism from Australia’s current Defense Minister, Peter Dutton.He used to Comparison Beijing’s actions against the actions of Nazi Germany and Russia added that “the only way to maintain peace is to prepare for war and become stronger as a country.”
This rebuke has angered Western Australia’s Premier of Western Australia, Mark Magawan, who leads a state that is heavily dependent on China’s raw material demand.
McGowan said he didn’t understand why Dutton talked about the war with Beijing and described it as “terrifying.”
“I think it’s terribly irresponsible to use such words,” McGowan said.
Last week he was put under further pressure on this issue, Launched a new tilade For references to Dutton and his war.
“I don’t know why [in] In our environment, someone like the Australian Defense Minister would be as grumpy as to say that, “McGowan told reporters.
“It’s just irresponsible and terribly irresponsible.”
Mr McGowan said WA is a major trading nation and China is the most important partner as it is the most in demand.
“You can’t really choose who your trading partner is … you want to work with your clients to make sure they come back,” he said. ..
“Obviously there are diplomatic problems, but we need to deal with them diplomatically.”
This is not the first time that the Premier of Western Australia has provided the federal government with free advice on how to handle relations with China.
Last year, before Prime Minister Scott Morrison left for the G7 summit, McGowan This statement to reporters: “I’ve never heard of all this word from the federal government about our war with China so crazy in my life.
“The idea that somehow the idea of armed conflict with superpowers should be promoted is crazy, and I don’t know why there are high-ranking federal officials, defense officers, or senior politicians in the Liberal Party. The party talking about this. It’s absolute madness. “
A few days later, McGowan stood there again and told attendees of the major oil and gas conferences in Perth: We must always protect our interests, institutions, independence, democracy, and freedom. Needless to say.
“But why is it in our interest to be reckless in the trade relations that fund and promote our prosperity and advancement of the country?”
Next day, answer the questions According to the Beijing Daily, managed by the Chinese Communist Party, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian praised McGowan at regular press conferences, and Australians said, “The Australian government should be aware of these constructive opinions. That’s it. “
Indeed, McGowan has warned the federal government of provoking China until May 2020, even proposing to help rebuild relations in December 2020. Of course, diplomacy is the responsibility of the federal government, not the state government.
In the past, the question of how close the Western Australian Government is to CCP has arisen.
As reported in 9 paper Last year, in February 2021, the McGowan government appointed Edward Zhang and Ting Chen as the only two Chinese community representatives of the 15-member multicultural council.
Zhang is recorded to blame the federal government’s position on the disputed South China Sea. “We overseas Chinese are the first line of defense in our homeland,” he said in 2016.
The report reveals that Zhang is a founding member and honorary chairman of the WA branch of the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Unity in China. At home and abroad to promote the interests of the Communist Party.
The president of Sydney, Billionaire’s political donor, Huang Xiang Shigeru, was banned from re-entering Australia in 2019 on the advice of intelligence personnel.
The report also shows that Chen, the second representative of the council, has been the vice-chairman or chairman of Chung Wah, WA’s largest and oldest Chinese association since 2017. ..
It outlines the association’s transition to a pro-Beijing organization led by former President Richard Tan after years of internal hostilities set aside members of the second generation of Australia and China. ..
Tan says there was no official partnership with the United Front, but many individuals were associated with groups within the network, including himself. Chen and his colleague Ding Shaoping founded WA’s Fukuken Association (a united front-linked operation). After that, Chen took over Ding as the president of Zheng He.
The report quotes Tan as saying: Australian politicians have deliberately ignored it or just pretended not to know it. “
The report reportedly quoted a former Liberal Party person on condition of anonymity, and Chung Wah often took on the function of the association, pressured him to host the event, and linked it from the Chinese Consulate. To the United Front Group, he said he had a hard time resisting the demand.
In fact, concerns about the WA Labor Party’s proximity to China, especially its connection to the United Front, date back to 2015.
Report by Chris Woolman On September 12, 2019, also in nine newspapers, an archived web page of the United Front’s own newspaper raised a question about the link between the same organization and the now abolished Western Australian Chapter of the Australian Labor Party Association. We have published the method (ACPLA).
The banner of the website released on March 16, 2015 says “China Unified Front News Web” and is declared to be a publication of “China Communist Party Central Committee United Front Work Department”. ..
The short story below was celebrated with a gathering of “nearly 100 Chinese community leaders and Labor lawmakers” a few days before the establishment of ACLPA’s WA branch. In the center of the attached photo was Mark Magawan, the then leader of the opposition and now the prime minister.
All of this raises questions. How serious is WA’s Chinese syndrome?
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
follow
Rocco Loiacono is a senior instructor and translator from Italian to English at Curtin University Law School in Perth, Australia. His work on translation, linguistics, and law is widely published in peer-reviewed journals.