From Bob Carr to The Monthly, Australia’s Fake Left has squawked on and off about how unfairly we are treating Chinese influence in Australia versus other Great Powers such as that of the US. Today Clive Hamilton and Alex Joske clear it up for them:
Professor Hamilton and Mr Joske will give evidence to Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on Wednesday, warning China’s widespread efforts to build influence in Australia consists of more than 35 separate organisations representing Beijing’s interests.
“Political leaders are a natural target. One favoured avenue is to draw them into engagement with Chinese community organisations, like the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, and cultural activities like Chinese New Year celebrations where personal relationships are fostered and feelings of reciprocity are established.
Through these contacts a Chinese view of the world is absorbed and becomes accepted, where ‘Chinese’ is in fact Beijing’s view of the world.
The leaders of these organisations appear to reflect and represent the views and outlook of the Chinese-Australian community. They may have legitimacy in some parts of the Chinese-Australian community, but because of the degree to which their opinions and actions are shaped by the [Chinese] Embassy and ultimately the [Chinese Communist Party], they might be better characterised as United Front operatives.
A one-party state that accepts and propagates anti-democratic values and practices – where little diversity of opinion is permitted, where the judiciary serves the ruling party, and where neither a free press nor a vibrant civil society are permitted – represents a far greater threat to Australia’s interests than a nation whose values and political structure are similar to our own.
Precisely. The irony being of course that the Chinese apologists are only able to communicate their view because they exist within a US-style system that the Chinese Communist Party would like to…ahem…improve.
