China targets those ‘making trouble’ as Anthony Albanese criticises its ‘dangerous’ behaviour

The Chinese Communist Party aimed its propaganda machine against Australia after Anthony Albanese called out the country’s ‘dangerous’ behaviour.

China took aim at Australia “making trouble” as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slammed the country as “dangerous” just days after talks with Chairman Xi Jinping.

Facing criticism over whether he kept quiet about an incident by the Chinese navy, that left an Australian diver injured, until after APEC meetings, Mr Albanese broke his silence to call the clash “unsafe and unprofessional”.

The Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machine went into overdrive at the criticism and threatened that it could scuttle the progress made between the two countries’ leaders, who met at last week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning disputed accusations against the Chinese Navy for releasing sonar blasts while two Australians were in the water nearby, claiming its military “always operates professionally”.

“We hope relevant parties will stop making trouble in front of China’s doorsteps and work with China to preserve the momentum of improving and growing China-Australia ties,” Ning said.

China's President Xi Jinping talks with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of the Leaders Retreat, during the APEC Summit. Picture: Reuters

Defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian added that Australia’s version of events was “completely inconsistent with the facts”.

“We urge the Australian side to respect the facts, stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations against China,” Wu told AFP, adding China “did not engage in any activities that may have affected the Australian divers”.

“The Chinese military’s ‘Ningbo’ destroyer took measures such as tracking, monitoring, identification, and verification in accordance with the law and regulations.”

The unusually colourful official statements coincided with a carefully choreographed front-page of the state-controlled Global Times website questioning Australia’s purpose in the waters near China.

Anonymous Chinese military experts quoted by the Global Times, designated by the US State Department as a “foreign mission”, or the propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party, said the location of the incident was not disclosed because Australia “has a guilty conscience”.

“Did the incident take place near China’s Diaoyu Islands or the island of Taiwan? Or was it close to a PLA training exercise? If that is the case, it was obvious that the Australian warship provoked China in the first place,” the expert said.

They added it was likely the Chinese ship, from the naval wing of the People’s Liberation Army, likely issued verbal warnings but was “forced” to send a warning through sonar being “ignored” by HMAS Toowoomba.

HMAS Toowoomba during exercises in 2018. Picture: Supplied

Editorials and so-called “expert” commentary in the Global Times following international incidents are widely seen as state-sanctioned views of the Chinese Communist Party beyond their official statements.

Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Academic Research Institute, added patrols by Chinese warships on “China’s doorstep” were normal but were bing “hyped as a China threat”.

“Australia said it had fishing nets that had become entangled around its frigate’s propellers,” Zhang said.

“It shows that such a close-in reconnaissance attempt not only posed threats to China’s national security, but also to the normal maritime work of fishing boats.”

The Royal Australian Navy divers were forced out of international waters off the coast of Japan by the Chinese destroyer’s sonar on Tuesday, but the incident was not disclosed until after the conclusion of Mr Albanese’s meetings with Chairman Xi at APEC.

When pressed in an interview with Sky News, Mr Albanese dodged whether he discussed the incident directly with Xi and instead said the issue was raised “in the appropriate way and very clearly”.

“China is in no misunderstanding on Australia’s view on this,” he said. “This was dangerous, it was unsafe and unprofessional from the Chinese forces,’’

“This is the sort of incident I’ve spoken about … why we need communication and guard rails, and we need to avoid reckless events like this. This is why we’ve made our strong objections to China.”

Originally published as China targets those ‘making trouble’ as Anthony Albanese criticises its ‘dangerous’ behaviour