Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ SYDNEY: China said on Tuesday that Australia should remember Japan’s war crimes during World War II before cozying up ties with the regional power.
Australia trying to repair ties with China
Australia’s center-left government is trying to repair its ties with China, which soured considerably under a former conservative government.
But it also recently signed a new security pact with China’s regional rival Japan, seen as an attempt to limit Beijing’s muscle in the Pacific region.
China warns Australia
China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said that Canberra should be cautious about trusting Japan, given its attacks on Australia during Second World War.
He said, “During World War II Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians, and shot Australian (prisoners of war),”.
“Be careful about what might happen in the future. When someone threatens you, he may threaten you again.”
Xiao Qian had bristled when asked about Japan’s ambassador to Australia, who told The Australian newspaper that there was a need to remain “vigilant” of China.
China slapped tariffs on key Australian exports such as barley and wine at the height of the dispute in 2020, and unofficially halted imports of Australian coal.
At one-point Chinese ministers even refused to take calls from their Australian counterparts.
Australia’s former government angered China by repeatedly questioning its human rights record or pushing for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid outbreak.
Xiao acknowledged that trade had been “disrupted” in recent years but said he was hopeful it would “get back to normal”.
