No escaping China’s dark truth

There’s a reason Dave Sharma and Peter Dutton backed Andrew Hastie’s criticism of China. Picture: AFP

Large sections of the left, the rent-seeking centre and capitalists on the right come together to argue for tolerance when it comes to China. Because they don’t mind it’s non-democratic structures, and positively love the rent seeking and monetary opportunities China offers.

Leaving only democrats, therefore, to raise the spectre that China just might be an authoritarian threat to the world order. That is, a structure which preserves freedoms in states such as ours.

The rise of China has lifted millions out of poverty. Bravo to that. But it is a pathway to prosperity built on quashing democratic values, principles of due process and the rule of law, alongside a most totalitarian stifling of dissent.

And now we see the expansionist tendencies of China as well, not to mention its preparedness to up the ante on how it attacks anyone who raises concerns about its rising power.

The state owned and controlled Chinese media has taken aim at Andrew Hastie for belling the cat on China. What a surprise, given an independent and free press is anathema with the way China does business.

It wasn’t all that long ago as Prime Minister Tony Abbott hosted Xi and lauded a speech the Chinese leader gave. In a show of complete ignorance about China, Abbott said it was the most significant speech by a Chinese leader, committing the nation to democracy by 2050. I had to listen back to what Xi had to say, wondering how I missed such a historic moment.

Xi of course said nothing of the sort in his speech, as every expert on China subsequently pointed out. How on earth Abbott and his advisers conjured up such an interpretation between the speech and Abbott’s reply a few hours later is beyond belief. It’s emblematic of how dysfunctional that office was. But it also highlights how easily western leaders can be blinded when it comes to China and Chinese power.

That’s because it’s such an important trading partner. That’s why Minister after Minister with financial responsibilities came out and slapped Hastie down for speaking truth to power — the finance minister, the industrial relations minister and the trade minister just yesterday. But the reason someone like Dave Sharma (MP and former Israeli Ambassador) backed Hastie up, as did Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, is because they understand the security threat the rise of an expansionist totalitarian super power with the worlds largest population is.

And they aren’t simply concerned about capitalism or a surplus target, they worry about the preservation of democracy. I’m not a capitalist — even though I have a penchant for it. I am a democrat, knowing what I do for a living would land me in jail if I lived in China.

It’s a state without transparency. We need to hope the rise and rise of democratic India comes soon enough to help plug the gaps between a growing China and a declining USA.

Simply put, while there is lots of nuance in global affairs and when it comes to managing China, there is no escaping the dark and sinister nature of such an undemocratic regime. One that locks dissidents up without trial.

Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University