China Thursday rejected Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie comments comparing rise of China to that of Nazi Germany’s, warning that the comments will damage the bilateral relationship.
Liberal back bencher and Chair of parliament’s powerful Security and Intelligence Committee Andrew Hastie in his opinion piece published in published on Thursday in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Thursday warned Australia against underestimating China, pointing to the experience of Europe in the face of an aggressive Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
“We strongly deplore the Australian federal MP Andrew Hastie’s rhetoric on “China threat” which lays bare his Cold-War mentality and ideological bias”, a spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in Canberra said in a statement.
Spokesperson said such comment goes against the world trend of peace, cooperation and development.
Spokesperson warned that such comments are detrimental to China-Australian relations urging Australian politicians to take off their “colored lens” and view China’s development path in an objective and rational way.
“History has proven and will continue to prove that China’s peaceful development is an opportunity, not a threat to the world”, spokesperson said.
Spokesperson emphasized that Australian politicians should make efforts to promote mutual trust between China and Australia, instead of doing the opposite.
