Taiwan fury as Bob Carr, Daniel Andrews to attend Chinese military parade
Former Labor premiers Bob Carr and Dan Andrews face fierce backlash over their decision to attend China’s military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and leaders from North Korea and Iran.
Former Labor premiers Bob Carr and Dan Andrews have been accused of allowing themselves to be used as propaganda tools for China’s Communist Party.
The former New South Wales and Victorian premiers have been invited to attend a military parade in China this week, which has infuriated Taiwan.
The island nation is at imminent risk of invasion from China, with experts saying it could be as soon as 2027, which would risk a war with the United States and potentially Australia.
Taiwanese diplomats have claimed that the pair’s attendance was a “clear attempt to advance (China’s) contemporary territorial claims over Taiwan.”
Former Labor MP Michael Danby has slammed the decision making of Mr Andrews and Mr Carr.
“Dan Andrew and Bob Carr are going to be watching a military parade of missiles that are going to be pointed at our Japanese allies and at American bases in the Philippines,” he said.
“It is absolutely inappropriate.”
Mr Danby said Australia was building a missile factory in Newcastle in direct response to the potential threat from China and was stunned the pair would accept the invitation.
Mr Carr and Mr Andrews were on the official guest list sent out by China.
They will be joining Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from Iran and North Korea to watch the Chinese army celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
China memorialises this as the defeat of Japan, which involved the deaths of 20 million of its citizens.
The march will be through Tiananmen Square, the site of bloody democracy protests in 1989 where Chinese troops turned tanks on unarmed students.
Mr Danby said there was no reason for Mr Carr and Mr Andrews to attend.
“Why isn’t Albo going, or Penny Wong, they are the leaders of this country,” he said.
The move was likely to anger the United States administration, which has been critical of China’s ambitions over Taiwan.
Mr Carr has defended his trip, penning an opinion piece to justify his decision.
He argued that China had helped defend Australia from Japanese invasion in World War Two by keeping “1 million Japanese troops tied down.”
He claimed that he accepted the invitation because his father had served in the Pacific and that his mother had also been in the army.
Mr Carr also boasted that he wanted to see Mr Putin in the stands.
“What attracts me to this celebration more than a glimpse of the Russian leader in the viewing stand is the attendance of big delegations from nine countries in South-East Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore,” he wrote in the opinion piece published in Nine Newspapers this week.
“Of course, Chinese leadership will see a propaganda or public relations advantage from the celebration.”
Mr Andrews was contacted for comment.
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