Chinese state-backed companies treat us like mugs

China has played the Victorian Premier as the biggest mug of all.

When former Labor minister Stephen Conroy says that China is playing Australians off a break over Victorian Labor’s secret trade deal, it is time to sit up and take notice. Conroy is only saying what the average punter has long known.

Chinese state-backed business has been playing us for mugs for years, buying up our industries, our ports and resources. Protests against the gradual takeover have long been decried by the Left as xenophobia.

Now that Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews has been played as the biggest mug of all, it is starting to frighten the lefties in the Labor chook house, waking them up finally to the alarming reality.

John Bell, Heidelberg Heights, Vic

Some of the outrage directed towards the Victorian government’s memorandum of understanding deal with China is somewhat confected (“Victoria goes rogue on vital China relationship”, 7/11).

Since Federation, states have engaged in international relations. Four states have an agent-general in London. States have also signed MOUs with other countries, US states, and Canadian provinces on matters of mutual interest. For example, in 2017 Victoria and Singapore signed a health sector MOU.

An MOU is an instrument of less than treaty status and is not legally binding. It is purely a political instrument. Either side can walk away without legal consequences. As for the MOU being secret, that is standard practice. When Australia concludes an MOU with another country it is only made public if both parties agree and often they do not.

Donald R. Rothwell, professor of international law, ANU, Canberra, ACT

Would the real Australian PM please stand up? I seems that a struggling state premier can sign contentious MOUs with foreign powers secretly without the consent or the knowledge of the federal government and PM.

A similar deal was struck by the Northern Territory government with China by leasing the port of Darwin without consultation with the federal government

Your editorial and the informative articles by Michael Shoebridge, Glenda Korporaal and Greg Sheridan should be recommended reading for all politicians for they highlight the obvious nefarious intent of China.

Mike Flanigan, Toowoomba, Qld

The letter (7/11) from the Huawei executive fails to mention China’s national intelligence law passed last year. It compels companies and individuals to collaborate with China’s intelligence services. It is obvious that other countries will not allow Chinese companies to operate in sensitive areas when they are compelled under Chinese law to collaborate with Chinese intelligence services.

Jeff Stokes, Largs Bay, SA

How is it that the Victorian Premier, elected to serve the people, could authorise a deal with a state such as China and then refuse to divulge all the contents of the deal?

Taken with revelations regarding the amount of funding flowing from Chinese backers to both sides of politics, the deal smacks of ambivalence toward the electorate he serves.

Mike Musgrave, Newport, NSW

It was interesting to read about the speech by China’s President Xi Jinping about future transparency and openness in China’s dealings with the global community.

But transparency should equate to a less aggressive and less bombastic posture over the South China Sea and no more spraying invective at those who disagree with China.

Most of us believe what others do more than what they say. Diplomacy is a casualty of China’s belligerence. While Xi is feeling magnanimous he might consider using the word trust in his speeches and then go on to demonstrate that China can be trusted.

Rod Searle, Madeley, WA

We shouldn’t give China an inch. The Chinese Communist Party lost any resemblance of legitimacy when it massacred hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square back in 1989.

The Chinese aristocracy clings to power through ruthlessness, double dealing, repression and espionage. They pragmatically abandoned any pretence of communism 30 years ago and are minting two new billionaires a week according to Forbes magazine.

In my view, China should free Tibet, free the Uighurs and get out of the South China Sea.

Joseph Vagunda, Taroona, Tas