Penny Wong gives CCP genocide a free pass

By in Australian Politics, China American Cold War

| 19 comments

Ah Labor, the CCP’s favoured party Downunder:

  • Shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has succeeded in preventing the Labor policy platform from condemning Chinese “genocide” in Xinjiang.
  • Labor has instead condemned the CCP for crushing Uyghers as “not the actions of a responsible global power”.
  • The excellent Kimberly Kitching did manage to inject the value of the Japanese alliance and the Quad into the platform.
  • Senator Wong blamed the Morrison Government for talking tough but allowing an increase in Chinese exports resulting in recent job losses.

So, what exactly does Penny want? Kowtowing to Beijing will increase Chinese exports, right?

In so doing it will also increase Beijing’s coercive powers. And the risk of further job losses if we don’t kowtow some more.

Where does it stop? The CCP has already made clear what Labor will need to do:

China's 14 grievances against Australia

Penny Wong and Labor have already agreed to muzzle criticism of China in their side of the parliamentary aisle (joining the Morrison Government who has also been mysteriously silent on this occasion). And to tone it down on Xinjiang. What other steps are they prepared to take? Muzzle the media as well? Gut intelligence agencies? Shut down ASPI? Open slather for investment, immigration and bribery? B&R to the moon? Siding with China on foreign policy decisions?

Where do Penny Wong and Labor draw the line on compromising values for a few yuan more?

David Llewellyn-Smith
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Comments

  1. Mable Stirrups

    Wong is just playing at being the pragmatist diplomat. She will try to find the happy medium where she can be seen to be softly rebuking China publicly on certain issues, while giving them a free pass on the real mechanisms that would actually hold them to account. Labor is going to need that Chinese immigration and investment ! Whether this balancing act could ever actually work without an ultimate capitulation to the CCP is doubtful, but pragmatists gonna pragmatic.

    • NoodlesRomanovMEMBER

      Kind of frustrating that MB is sucked up into a more MSM approach on this.
      ‘We condemn their actions’
      MSM: Would you call it a genocide?
      (Knowing that this is a diplomatic process and the high ground is paramount) ‘We strongly condemn their actions’
      MSM: Ahhh you won’t call it a genocide – that really matters for some reason!! You are now an accessory to human rights abuse!

  3. DivyaMEMBER

    Isnt this the point? Talk the talk to CCP but not walk the walk by giving them export $$?
    Wasnt it Trump that praised chinas handling of the virus in the same speech that he announced closure of the borders to china last year? And we all thanked him for it.
    What part is actually confusing? That politics can do double speak to get a job done?

  5. Ronin8317MEMBER

    The ‘Uyghur Genocide’ is another version of the ‘COVID leaked from Chinese Lab’. It becomes an echo chamber of malicious claims because Xinjiang has been under martial law since the Kunming attack in 2014. Oppression is applied to everyone living there: the Uyghur gets it much worse than Han, but it’s still pretty bad. Han Chinese who quit their job working as the ‘law enforcement officer’ will be sent to jail, because too many people are quitting. A blogger who said he wants to leave Xinjiang ended up retracting his comment, deleted all his videos, then release a video saying how he has changed his mind and “He loves Xinjiang” now. The entire province is an open air prison.

    Harvesting of cotton is pretty much done by machines now, so the whole ‘Xinjiang cotton boycott’ needs to be put into perspective. H & M is now finished in China, but in contrast Nike sales is booming. This is geopolitics at work, with the truth being the first casualty.

  10. pcccMEMBER

    China are doing nasty things and they are a worry..but.. if what China is doing is genocide then doesn’t Australia need to apologise to the aboriginal people for th genocide against them, before we can credibly put that label on the actions of someone else. And the Yanks, and Israel, and pretty much every Western European power. And not to be biased against the west. Japan, Russia, Turkey and most of the rest of the top 50 countries of the world.

    • Even StevenMEMBER

      Really? You’re going the ‘glass houses’ angle when we are talking about mass oppression and cruelty of an ethnic group occurring NOW?

      Perhaps once we’ve meditated sufficiently, reconciled all our internal conflicts, repented for past transgressions, found internal peace… all will be well. Because Uyghurs won’t exist. Good plan.

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