Yawn:
Beijing has warned Australia to respect its national security interests and avoid potential “serious consequences” after Canberra accused a Chinese fighter jet of intercepting an RAAF aircraft over the South China Sea.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday night did not confirm or deny the incident but a spokesman said the Chinese military carried out operations in accordance with international law.
“China will never allow any country to violate China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation, and endanger peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the spokesman said.
“China once again urges the Australian side to earnestly respect China’s national security interests and major concerns, and to be cautious in words and deeds, so as to avoid misjudgment and serious consequences.“
Whatevs. Buzzing is standard Cold War stuff. So long as it’s happening in the South China Sea and not the Coral Sea we should get used to it.
Peter Hartcher points out the obvious:
It started the moment the Albanese government was elected. The government of China started making overtures. Premier Li Keqiang sent the new Australian prime minister a note of congratulations.
…So, what’s Australia’s move? Australia is under pressure from Beijing on every front. Should Anthony Albanese take the opportunity for a reconciliation? He could claim a diplomatic coup and take the credit.
But no…Albanese made two key points about China relations. The first concerned the list of 14 demands that China’s embassy in Canberra issued to a Channel Nine reporter in November 2020. It begins with a demand that Australia relax its foreign investment rules for China and ends with a demand that Australia’s media stop making critical comments about China. The next day, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said Australia should “correct its errors”.
“The truth is that Australia is a great democracy,” said Albanese in response to reporters’ questions. “The demands, which were placed by China, are entirely inappropriate. We reject all of them. We will determine our own values. We will determine Australia’s future direction.”
Second was on China’s punitive bans on more than $20 billion worth of Australian exports. “Australia seeks good relations with all countries,” said Albanese. “But it’s not Australia that’s changed: China has. It is China that has placed sanctions on Australia. There is no justification for doing that. And that’s why they should be removed.”
…So while China’s officials present a conciliatory face publicly, they maintain the existing political, economic and military pressures while adding new layers in less visible ways.
Pretending to offer the hand of friendship, they are, in fact, demanding the full kowtow. Offering public platitudes and private pressures, they are seeing whether a new Australian government will crack. It’s a try-on.
This is an astonishingly amateurish misreading of Australia. Why would Albanese make any unilateral concessions? He’s under zero pressure from anyone other than the regime of Xi Jinping. The industries under Beijing’s boycott have mostly adjusted and certainly don’t expect the Albanese government to capitulate.
Piss awf, China.
