China's deputy ambassador to Australia has accused Scott Morrison of overreacting to an inflammatory tweet by a Chinese official and has reiterated that Australia will have to take "concrete steps" if it wants to improve the bilateral relationship.
Key points:
- China's deputy ambassador Wang Xining suggests Scott Morrison's response to the fake image was a tactical stumble
- Mr Morrison says he wants a "happy co-existence" with China
- Mr Wang says China hopes to see "concrete actions" by Australia to bring the relationship back to normal
Chinese state media, the Chinese embassy in Canberra and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing have all berated Australia this week after the Prime Minister demanded China apologise for the tweet, which featured a fake image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child.
The tweet is a reference to the Brereton report on alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. It includes reports that Australian soldiers slit the throats of two teenagers, although that allegation has not been substantiated in the report's unredacted sections.
The controversy has also lit up Chinese social media channels this week.
The deputy ambassador, Wang Xining, told the ABC Mr Morrison's response was "unfortunate" and suggested it may have been a tactical stumble.
"Now there is much larger visibility of the Brereton report in China. More people are attentive to what happened in Afghanistan," he said.
"People wonder why a national leader would have such a strong opinion to [sic] an artwork by a normal young artist in China."
The Government has been trying to dial down the temperature of the dispute in the last few days, with the Prime Minister saying that Australia wanted "happy co-existence" with China and stressing he still wanted to reopen channels of communication with top Chinese leaders.
Mr Wang denied China was refusing to talk to Australian leaders, despite the fact that multiple ministers have repeatedly said they cannot get their counterparts on the phone.
"Meetings between ministers and even the higher level must be prepared. It's a normal international diplomatic practice," he said.
But in the next sentence he seemed to link the diplomatic freeze to the broader dispute, saying: "We still hope to see concrete actions done by the Australian side to promote favourable atmosphere for stronger collaboration and to bring our relationship back to normal."
Mr Wang also said the so-called list of "14 grievances" which the embassy handed to a journalist earlier this year was not a definitive statement of China's demands.
"It has been given a name and over-simplified."
And he seemed to suggest that Australian's stance towards China was being distorted because ministers were paying too much attention to hawkish officials, rather than Australian businesses.
"Taxpayers are the backbone of society and keep the host community running," he said.
"Unfortunately, the leadership here have been ill-advised by people who consume tax, not contribute to tax. I hope people could have a clearer mind of what is happening on the ground."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEyLTA0L2NoaW5hLWF1c3RyYWxpYS1kZXB1dHktYW1iYXNzYWRvci1zY290dC1tb3JyaXNvbi10d2VldC8xMjk1MTE2MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjk1MTE2Mg?oc=5
2020-12-04 03:20:00Z
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