“We need to regard Chinese Australians as available assets.” Disrupt China-Australian relations with one hand, but at a loss in the face of the damaged economy.
Australian politicians actually had the idea of Chinese in the country and tried to “control China with China”.
According to the Australian Associated Press and the Sydney Morning Herald on December 8, Dave Sharma, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and a former diplomat, declared that the Australian intelligence and diplomatic services should make full use of their Chinese societies as they cooperated with Muslims during the rise of the Islamic State. District.
He also said that to do this, Australian security agencies need to actively recruit more Chinese Australians and Mandarin-speaking people in the field of relations with China.
The Australian government provoked a Sino-Australian trade dispute “on its own”, which hit the country’s manufacturing export industry hard. Earlier, Australian experts worried that if a full-scale trade conflict broke out with China, it would be “devastating” to Australia, and the country’s GDP might shrink by 6%.
On this occasion, Sharma, together with Tim Watts, a member of the Labor Party, and Allan Gyngell, former Director-General of the Australian National Assessment Office, attended a seminar held by the think tank “China Affairs” in the Federal Parliament. When talking about how to deal with the current difficult Sino-Australian relationship, Sharma put forward the so-called “Chinese asset theory”.
At the seminar, Sharma “splashed dirty water” to China from the beginning, distorting China’s exposure of racial discrimination against Chinese in Australia as “interference in Australia’s internal affairs” and slandering China’s “massive cyberattack” against Australia. He shouted that only “no self-respecting” countries may succumb to pressure from China.
Then, Sharma began to use his mind. He said that (Morrison) the government should be more open in responding to China’s “interference in Australia’s affairs”. One way is to regard Chinese Australians as “available assets”.
“Our security agencies need to better engage with the Chinese community in Australia.” He even compared Australia’s handling of relations with China with the Islamic State, declaring that Australia’s intelligence and diplomatic services should “maintain the same level of cooperation” with the Chinese community in their own countries, as they cooperated with Muslims during the rise of the Islamic State.
Sharma said, Australian security agencies such as intelligence and foreign affairs need to change the way security censorships and actively recruit more Chinese Australians and Mandarin-speaking people. Previously, these departments have been shut out Australians of Chinese origin.
At the same time, he also stressed the need for closer relations between Australia and regional allies such as India and Japan, and advocated inviting Taiwan to join the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement (TPP).
However, he then turned his words, saying that in the face of deteriorating Sino-Australia relations, Australia must remain calm and patient.” We should avoid overreaction or panic…Australia should clearly state its position to China and seek mutual respect.”
In addition, Tim Watts, a Labour MP and Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cybersecurity, attended the seminar. He warned the Australian government and the public that decoupling from China would be “an unprecedented act of national self-sabotage”.
“Over the past 20 years, the scale of Australia’s economic interactions with China has greatly benefited both countries,” Watts said. He also asked the Morrison administration to maintain communication with opposition parties and maintain “long-term consistency” of information when engaging with China.
It is worth mentioning that Asians account for about 13% to 14% of Australia’s population of about 25.7 million, South China Morning Post previously reported. However, Chinese people are frequently subjected to political persecution and racial discrimination, especially during the coronavirus epidemic.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has tallied hundreds of Asians who have complained about racial discrimination under the Racial Discrimination Act since the outbreak of the coronavirus, with the highest number in February in 12 months. Since the beginning of February, one-third of the complaints relate to the novel coronavirus.
