China’s ambassador to Australia has launched an extraordinary attack on Japan, warning Australians against becoming too trusting of their former World War II adversary and declaring Japan is a greater military threat than China.
Xiao Qian, China’s top envoy in Australia, said Japan’s failure to apologise for its conduct during WWII, including the mistreatment of Australian prisoners of war, meant it could again go to war with Australia, even though the countries have since become close security partners.
Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian warned Australia against becoming too close to Japan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Xiao said it was “not very long, when you look at history, that Australia was under threat and being attacked and invaded” by Japan.
“During the Second World War, Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians and treated Australian POWs in a way that is humanly unacceptable,” Xiao told reporters at a new year’s press conference at the Chinese embassy in Canberra.
“And the Japanese government has not apologised for that up to today. If they don’t apologise, it means they don’t accept it’s wrong and they might repeat the history.”
Xiao said: “I hope the Australian government and Australian people would have a clear mind about what happened and be careful about what might happen in the future. Once somebody threatens you, he might threaten you again. China has been your friend; we will continue to be your friend.”
Japan and Australia have become increasingly close security partners over recent decades, drawn together in part by a shared concern about China’s growing power and increased assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific.
A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Canberra said: “The embassy has no intention to comment on any specific comments by the Chinese ambassador. We believe that this is a time for dialogue and no time to engage in mutual recrimination.”
Xiao paraphrased a quote attributed to Winston Churchill in which the wartime British prime minister said: “The farther back you look, the further ahead you can see.”
“History can tell a lesson,” Xiao said. “If we forget history, history might repeat itself.”
Xiao also intensified his criticisms of the AUKUS pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, saying the federal government was wasting taxpayer money by spending tens of billions of dollars on nuclear-powered submarines.
“It will not solve any problem of Australia’s security concerns,” Xiao said of AUKUS.
“This is a long distance between China and Australia, we have no reason to treat each other like a threat.”
Xiao accused Japan’s ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, who has been outspoken in his criticisms of China, of seeking to drive a wedge between Beijing and Canberra.
Yamagami has described China’s military activities around Taiwan as shocking and warned Australia against putting “too many eggs in one basket” by becoming dependent on its trading relationship with China.
“I’m afraid our colleague from Japan is not doing his job,” Xiao said.
“Japan is a great country, Japanese people are great people, Chinese people and Japanese people are very friendly.
“But there are a handful of people, a handful of political forces, in that country that are taking a twisted way of looking at history, a twisted way of looking at China, a twisted way of looking at the relations between China and Australia. That is not constructive; that is not helpful.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, signed a wide-ranging security agreement earlier this year, while Australia and the United States agreed to integrate Japan into local military exercises.
In a speech in Tokyo last month, Defence Minister Richard Marles said “Australia’s relationship with Japan is foundational” and the country was emerging as a “powerful force in its own right” alongside the US-Australia alliance.
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