Diplomat Long Zhou wants more ‘respect’ for China
A Chinese diplomat says Australia needs to ‘abandon ideological principles’ to repair its relationship with Beijing.
A Chinese diplomat and former top Beijing cyber official who infamously gatecrashed a federal minister’s press conference says Australia needs to “abandon ideological principles” in order to repair its fractured relationship with the Asian superpower.
China’s Victorian consul-general Long Zhou says Australia needs to uphold the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment and promote bilateral relations between the two nations.
His comments to Chinese state media come as trade restrictions on Australian exports — including beef, barley, lobster, wine and coal — devastate domestic businesses, and a Senate inquiry considers whether to ban the importation of goods produced by Uighur slave labour.
“Australia should treat China and China’s development objectively and rationally, abandon ideological prejudices, and truly uphold the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment in handling bilateral relations and actively promote China-Australia relations to return to the track of normal and healthy development as soon as possible,” Mr Zhou is paraphrased as saying in an article published on the consulate’s website on February 1.
“Because this is in line with the two common interests of the two countries and the fundamental interests of the two peoples.”
Mr Zhou made headlines when he was invited to speak alongside Health Minister Greg Hunt at a press conference by mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest in April 2020, blindsiding the federal government.
His latest comments were made before the formal arrest of Australian journalist Cheng Lei earlier this month after the University of Queensland graduate had already been detained on suspicion of sharing state secrets.
Professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University and China critic Clive Hamilton described the statement as “boilerplate Communist Party language”, saying the gulf between Beijing’s actions and words was vast.
“Last time I looked, bullying, subversion and economic coercion were not listed under ‘the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment’,” he said.
“As for ‘the fundamental interests of the two peoples’, let’s hope one day soon the people of China can, like the people of Australia, breathe the fresh air of freedom.”
The Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee is examining a proposed bill introduced by independent senator Rex Patrick to ban the importation of goods produced by Uighur forced labour.
Senator Patrick said China had been using Australia as an economic punching bag.
“If he (Mr Zhou) was truly interested in principles of mutual respect and equal treatment, he could start by getting his own ministers to answer the phone when our ministers call,” he said.
“That would be a helpful first step, but I suspect he is just peddling propaganda under directions from his CCP masters.”
The Australian has previously revealed Mr Zhou was a co-ordinator of cyber affairs at China‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and developed the country’s cyberspace “co-operation” policy, which put a positive spin on Beijing’s global digital incursions.
Attempts to contact Mr Zhou went unanswered.
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