Australia blasts China over ‘disinformation’

Bloomberg

Australian foreign minister Marise Payne criticised China for creating “disinformation” during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it “will cost lives.”
“It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy to promote their own more authoritarian models,” Payne said in a speech in Canberra on Tuesday. She cited a European Union report that said foreign actors including Russia and China had spread misinformation, along with Twitter’s ban of accounts linked to alleged disinformation campaigns from China and Russia.
“The disinformation we have seen contributes to a climate of fear and division when what we need is cooperation and understanding,” she said.
Payne’s comments may exacerbate diplomatic tensions with China, Australia’s largest trading partner, after she raised Beijing’s ire in April by calling for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus that was subsequently backed by the World Health Assembly.
Since then, China has imposed new tariffs on Australian barley and a ban on beef from four meat plants. It also warned
its citizens that they risk racist attacks should they study in Australia, raising Canberra’s concerns that the Chinese government was retaliating with “economic coercion.”
Payne defended her government’s decision to call for the independent probe, which saw Beijing accuse Australia of doing the bidding of close ally the US.
She also rejected China’s claims that its students are being singled out for racist attacks. While Australia’s borders are currently closed to non-residents due to the pandemic, the education warning could have a big impact on the economy once travel restrictions are lifted.
Australia’s diplomatic ties with Beijing were under stress before its call for the virus probe. The government cited Beijing’s “meddling” in national affairs as a catalyst for anti-foreign interference laws passed in 2018, the same year it banned Huawei from building its 5G network.