Daniel Andrews has come under fire for his controversial trade deal with China, as Australia’s relationship with the communist nation continues to unravel.
The Victorian premier spoke out on Wednesday condemning the actions of China’s foreign ministry spokesman after he shared a mocked-up image of a digger threatening to kill an Afghan child.
But when asked if he would go back on his controversial Belt and Road Deal deal with China, Mr Andrews stood firm, simply saying: ‘no’.
Mr Andrews has previously come under fire for his relationship with China after he allegedly went against advice from top intelligence and security officials to sign the deal.
The Victorian premier spoke out on Wednesday, condemning the actions of China’s foreign ministry spokesman after he shared a mocked-up image of a digger threatening to kill an Afghan child (pictured, China’s army on parade)
The scheme, which will see the communist superpower invest in huge infrastructure projects around the world, was signed in October 2018.
Premier Andrews said he made the agreement to increase Chinese participation in Victorian building projects, manufacturing and trade in order to boost jobs.
While he condemned the doctored image, saying it’s ‘beyond the pale’, he called on the federal government to find a way to repair the relationship.
‘This relationship is far too important to farmers, to manufacturers, to workers, to profits for Victorian companies and therefore prosperity for our state,’ he said.
‘This is not just our biggest customer, but it is all about jobs. We need a good relationship but it has to be a fair and respectful one.
‘I’m confident that the commonwealth government knows and understands how important this relationship is. I’m certain of that, and that’s why, as challenging as this is, people have to find a way to work through it.’
Canberra-Beijing relations hit a new low on Monday when China’s foreign ministry spokesman sparked fury by tweeting a mocked-up image of a digger threatening to kill an Afghan child.
Mr Andrews (pictured in China’s Tiananmen Square) refused to heed warnings from top intelligence and security officials about the controversial Belt and Road Deal with China
Mr Andrews came under fire for his relationship with China after he went against advice from top intelligence and security officials to sign the controversial deal
Mr Morrison called the image ‘repugnant’ and demanded an apology – but Beijing refused and now communist party newspaper The Global Times has shared a new image by the same artist attacking the prime minister.
The image shows Mr Morrison covering a dead body in a war zone while telling a painter – which represents China – to ‘apologise’.
The computer-generated image reflects Beijing’s view that Mr Morrison should focus on a recent war crimes report – which contained allegations that 25 Australian soldiers unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners – rather than directing his anger to China.
The image went alongside an article saying the nation’s ‘hypocrisy and double standard on human rights and so-called freedom of speech have again made waves in its relations with China’.
The Global Times also published a cartoon by artist Chen Xia showing a kangaroo with bloody hands next to a knife soaked in blood.
The cartoon was featured alongside a piece criticising Mr Morrison for taking aim at Fu Yu, the artist who made the other two doctored images.
The first doctored image showed a grinning Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child.
Victoria’s Belt and Road deal will also be examined if the new laws pass (pictured, Premier Daniel Andrews and Chinese ambassador Jingye Cheng)
The Global Times, a mouthpiece for the communist government, shared the image depicting the Australian prime minister in a war zone, pointing at a child screaming ‘apologise!’
It was posted following the handing down of the Brereton inquiry, which contained allegations that Aussie soldiers slit the throats two Afghan boys and dumped their bodies in a river.
The incendiary newspaper’s editor Hu Xijin called the Australian prime minister ‘ridiculously arrogant’ over his outrage at the photo and told him to ‘slap himself in the face’.
‘How could this Australian PM be so ridiculously arrogant to pick on Chinese FM spokesperson’s condemnation against the murder of innocent people?’ the article said.
‘Is the murder fake news? Shouldn’t that illustrator have made the cartoon? Didn’t the Chinese spokesperson have the right to re-post that cartoon to censure Australian troops’ murder of innocent Afghan civilians?
This image, shared online by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, is what first sparked the latest diplomatic row – falsely showing an Australian soldier slitting a child’s throat
The Global Times also published a cartoon (pictured) by artist Chen Xia showing a kangaroo with bloody hands next to a knife soaked in blood
‘The Australian government’s many moves have made Australia more and more like a rural-urban continuum in Western civilisation, where rogues and outlaws run wild.’
Mr Xijin then said Mr Morrison should be the one apologising to the Afghan people for his army’s war crimes in a furious tirade in the state-supported newspaper.
‘Morrison should kneel down on the ground, slap himself in the face, and kowtow to apologise to Afghans – all these should be done in a live telecast,’ he said.
He doubled down on the remarks on Twitter, saying his country’s government had nothing to apologise for.
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‘It is a popular cartoon that condemns the Australian Special Forces’ brutal murder of 39 Afghan civilians,’ he said.
‘On what ground does Morrison feel angry over the use of this cartoon by the spokesperson of the Chinese FM [foreign minister]?
‘It’s ridiculous and shameless he demanded China to apologise.’
Daniel Andrews’ deal with China
In October 2018, the Victorian Labor government signed a memo of understanding with China under the country’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The BRI is a Chinese plan to establish maritime trade routes and invest in infrastructure projects around the world.
More than 170 memos of understanding have been signed with 125 countries.
Premier Andrews said he wanted to increase Chinese participation in Victorian building projects, manufacturing, and trade.
Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Premier Li Keqiang on May 22
In October 2019, Mr Andrews reached a ‘framework agreement‘ with China that vowed to make a roadmap for cooperation on specific initiatives.
So far the roadmap has not been published.
Critics say the BRI is a tool to expand influence and power across the globe.
Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Andrews had ‘gone off the reservation by conducting his own foreign policy with China’.
As trade tensions with China mount, Mr Andrews has been urged to scrap the agreement, which he claims creates jobs for Victorians.
Michael Schoebridge of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said: ‘The Victorian government’s BRI activities are simply out of step with the new international and economic environment, including the now openly coercive directions that Beijing is taking with Canberra over trade and in government relations.’
Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade References Committee, said: ‘The Victorian government should not have entered into an agreement with the Chinese government on the Belt and Road Initiative – it is bad policy and bad optics.’
