Diplomat says China not a cash cow to be ‘slaughtered’

A Chinese diplomat has accused Australia of “conniving” against the superpower and treating it like a cow in its prime.

China has accused Australia of “conniving, unethical and immoral” actions, while warning the Asian superpower was not a “cow (to be) milked in her prime” and “slaughtered”.

In another rare and inflammatory public appearance, Beijing’s deputy head of mission in Australia Wang Xining said China had “done nothing intentionally” to hurt the relationship between the two countries, despite a series of trade sanctions.

In a pointed message, Mr Wang said the relationship could improve if “issues are handled properly”, but delivered a stern warning as well.

Chinese embassy spokesman Wang Xining at the National Press Club. Picture: Gary Ramage/NCA NewsWire

“China is not a cow. I don’t think anybody should fancy the idea to milk China when she’s in her prime and plot to slaughter it in the end,” he said.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Wang’s address positioned China as under attack from the West’s “devour or be devoured” attitude.

“We have done nothing intentionally to hurt this relationship, and we have seen too many incidents over the past few years that China’s interest has been hurt,” he said.

The diplomat accused Australia of illegal actions in barring Chinese tech giant Huawei from building the nation’s 5G network.

“Australia connived with the United States in a very unethical, illegal, immoral suppression of Chinese companies,” he said.

Wang Xining welcomes ABC journalist Laura Tingle. Picture: Gary Ramage/NCA NewsWire

Huawei was blocked from bidding due to national security concerns, while just this week there were reports the tech-giant may have been able to monitor calls in Dutch mobile phone networks.

He did praise Australia for its job in suppressing the coronavirus on its shores.

China has targeted Australia with a variety of sanctions or trade restrictions over the past 12 months, including on beef, barley, wine, coal, seafood and timber.

There are two Australians currently arbitrarily detained in China, including journalist and University of Queensland alumni Cheng Lei, while Ministers have been unable to get their counterparts on the phone.

Cheng Lei, Australian anchor for China's government-run English news channel CGTN, detained in Beijing. Picture: CGTN

Mr Wang said diplomatic relations could get back on track if Australia “refrained from interfering” in China’s affairs and respected its sovereignty, referring to the condemnation of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and the crackdown in Hong Kong.

The last time Mr Wang spoke he sparked fireworks at the press club, he described the relationship between Australia and Beijing as like a bad marriage, while saying Australia had “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” by calling for an inquiry into the origin of COVID-19, which started in Wuhan.

Originally published as Diplomat says China not a cash cow to be ‘slaughtered’