Author Topic: Diplomatic decolonization  (Read 6597 times)

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Australia and China Tensions
« Reply #30 on: November 30, 2020, 06:16:02 pm »
Why has the Australia-China relationship turned sour? | Inside Story
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Ties between Australia and China are unravelling fast. Beijing has imposed a tariff of up to 212 percent on Australian wine, the latest in an escalating dispute. China says it's a measure against dumping to protect its own wine industry. But Australia believes the reason's political. The government in Canberra has criticised China's handling of COVID-19, as well as human rights issues in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Is there room to repair the relationship?


China slaps Australia with barley tariffs as trade tensions flare
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Ties between Australia and China are under growing strain after Beijing imposed tariffs and suspensions on Australian agricultural products.
China has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 80 percent on Australian barley and has suspended Australian beef imports, after Australia's push for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19.


Further escalation in feud between Australia and China | DW News
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said a fake image that was tweeted by a high-ranking Chinese official was "truly repugnant." Morrison called a media briefing specifically to condemn the posting of the picture, which shows an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of a veiled Afghan child carrying a lamb in her arms. Morrison described the image as being "deeply offensive to every Australian." He said he had reached out to Twitter and Chinese authorities for the immediate removal of the post.

The digitally altered post came from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday. Responses that came to the tweet from those springing to Australia's defense referred to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the repression and persecution of Muslims in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. Zhao's comments follow the release earlier this month of a damning report into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016. A four-year inquiry found that there was "credible information" to substantiate claims that Australian soldiers unlawfully killed 39 prisoners and civilians. Washington criticized Zhao in March over his tweet about a conspiracy theory that US soldiers may have taken the coronavirus to China. He is considered a leading representative of Beijing's new assertive approach to foreign relations.

A rift between the two nations has deepened since the Australian government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, China has imposed tariffs and other restrictions on certain Australian exports.


Australia demands apology after Chinese official tweets 'falsified image' of soldier threatening child
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded the Chinese government delete a "repugnant" and "falsified image" on Twitter that appears to show an Australian soldier threatening to slit a child's throat.
The image, set against a backdrop of the Australian and Afghan flags, was shared on Monday morning Beijing time from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian's verified Twitter account with the caption: "Shocked by the murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers."
The spat is the latest example of souring relations between the two countries, with tensions ramping up despite China being Australia's biggest trading partner.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/australia/australia-china-twitter-intl-hnk/index.html

If the image is indeed false we should remember western media had no problems doing the same to Germany during WWI and WWII.

China: Australia should offer apology to Afghan people over "cruel crimes," says Beijing
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying urged Australia to apologise to Afghanistan for what she called 'cruel crimes' committed by its soldiers in Afghanistan during a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.

Hua's comment responded to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demand of an official apology from Beijing, after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian posted a doctored image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to an Afghan child's throat.

"The Australian side is acting so strongly on my colleague's Twitter. Does that mean they think the cold-blood murder of Afghan innocent civilians is justified while other people's condemnations on such cruel crimes are not justified? Afghan lives matter," Hua stated.

"The Australian government should do some soul searching and bring the culprits to justice as well as offer the official apology to the Afghan people and make the sole pledge that they will never repeat such crimes," she added.

Earlier on Monday, Lijian Zhao, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, posted the fabricated image in reference to alleged war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2013.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned the fabricated image on Monday, calling it 'truly repugnant' and 'utterly outrageous.' He stressed that the tweet must be taken down and called for an apology from Beijing.

Tensions between Beijing and Canberra have been increasing since the Australian government called for an independent international investigation over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
#China #Beijing #Afghanistan