Scott Morrison has acted absolutely correctly in his reaction to China’s disgusting depiction of an Australian soldier slitting the throat of a young girl by demanding an apology and a withdrawal of the fake photo.
But the Prime Minister also kept the slur in perspective, essentially declaring “enough is enough” and publicly asking China to re-engage in diplomatic dialogue with Australia.
Morrison has reacted as Australians would want him to react: he stood firm, demanded an apology and yet sought to talk to the Chinese leadership despite the ludicrous overreach of the global calumny.
China has made a mistake. For all the flaws in the Chinese media tirades against Australia, they were seen to be acting from the high moral ground. There were complaints of hurting the feelings of the Chinese people, of political rhetoric that was insulting and fomented animosity and even racism towards Beijing.
There were faults on the Australian side from overzealous critics and juvenile political point-scoring at the expense of the Sino-Australian relationship, but Monday’s fake image more than squares the ledger.
This is not some hidden cyber campaign nor some cat’s paw of the Chinese leadership — this is an open declaration by the Chinese government that is false.
Propaganda images of this sort are an outmoded fictional depiction of fears and myths used by totalitarian regimes to whip up hate and fear within their own communities to exercise control, not the official presentation of a modern developed nation.
There is a palpable visceral Australian public reaction and a closing of political ranks because of the hideously false image.
China has overstepped the mark and lost the high moral ground with this use of brutal totalitarian propaganda and Twitterphone diplomacy.
Morrison recognises China’s official misstep and has acted immediately. There will be no Australian cave-in to public media bullying of a standard far worse than any of the rhetoric expressed in Australia.
But Morrison also signalled publicly to Beijing that going any further is no good for either side, and he appealed directly to the Chinese leadership to reopen the dialogue with Australia.
Perhaps something positive can be salvaged from this.
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