China is behaving badly and Australia won’t stand for it, minister says
- Nations have ‘incredibly important’ trading relationship, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton says
- Chinese embassy hits back at accusations it is targeting political parties and universities, saying the claims are ‘shocking and baseless’
China is behaving in a way that is inconsistent with Australian values by targeting political parties and universities, a senior government minister said on Friday, drawing a sharp rebuke from China’s embassy.
Australian lawmakers had sought to improve the relationship by refraining from public criticism of China in recent months, but Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said Australia would not be silent despite the importance of their trading relationship.
“We have a very important trading relationship with China, incredibly important,” Dutton told reporters in Canberra.
“But we are not going to allow university students to be unduly influenced, we are not going to allow theft of intellectual property and we are not going to allow our government bodies or non-government bodies to be hacked into.”
China’s embassy in Canberra called the remarks “irrational ... shocking and baseless” in a statement on its website, adding that they constituted “an outright provocation to the Chinese people”.
