May 5 2021 David Brophy, a senior lecturer in modern Chinese history at the University of Sydney in Australia, wrote an article on the Website of the Sydney Morning Herald on May 5, calling on Australians to oppose the recent escalation of regional tensions by a small number of politicians in the country. He stressed that the majority of Australians were opposed to war and that they should make their position clear to the government.
The article, entitled “Australians don’t want war with China, it’s time to raise objections”, says Australia’s discussions about China have been rife with “war rhetoric” for some time. Such statements may be based on the electoral needs of some Australian politicians, who want to show the United States that “Australia is willing to stand up to The United States against China”. The Australian public should speak out against the wrong arguments on Australia-China relations.
The article stresses that the U.S. military presence in Asia “serves only U.S. self-interest” and that if the U.S. conflicts with China and convenes its allies, it is also in its own interest. For Australia, being involved again would only lead to meaningless and immoral wars, as happened in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The article also said the Australian people should categorically reject the wrong statements and act to divert Australia from the wrong course of conflict with China.
