Photo: Screenshot of SBSNews

 
Australian media and politicians, after repeatedly publishing and hyping cases of so-called Chinese spies based on non-factual background in the past few days, were slammed by Chinese observers and officials on Monday, as another show of its unnecessarily extreme nervousness when handling China-related issues and another attempt of promoting China threat theory. 

"Lies are always lies, no matter how bizarre the plot is and whatever ways they are played in," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a routine press conference on Monday. He said that Australian politicians and media outlets kept fabricating China spy or infiltration cases. 

Geng urged Australian media and politicians to look at China and China-Australia relations in a healthy manner, saying they have been in high tensions over China-related issues, sometimes reaching an extreme nervousness. 

Geng's remarks came after Australian media reported that suspected Chinese operatives had offered Melbourne luxury car dealer Bo "Nick" Zhao $AU 1 million ($679,000) to run as a candidate for a parliamentary seat in Melbourne, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) said it took seriously the allegations against Zhao. 

Yu Lei, a researcher at the Oceania research center at the Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, told the Global Times on Monday that the frequent attacks launched by the Australia was due to its worries over China's growing overall strength in the Asian-Pacific region, which could threaten its own.

And US manipulations could be also behind the attacks, he noted.

The case also arose amid Australian media stories claiming that Wang Liqiang, an alleged self-confessed Chinese spy, had applied for political asylum in Australia. 

Shanghai police denied Wang was a spy, saying he was in fact an ex-con wanted for involvement in a fraud case involving 4.6 million yuan ($653,000). In 2016, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraud, the police said.

Geng said it was "ridiculous that some Australian media staged a clumsy farce by insisting on the wrong position, hyping up the China threat theory and smearing China, after the Chinese side clarified the information in a timely manner." 

Geng said China has always pursued the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, that China conducted friendly cooperation with countries including Australia on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. 

And US manipulations could be also behind the attacks, Yu noted.

Observers also speculated that the Australia's hostility toward China will not diminish in the near future, while warning that it has to get used to China's development. Otherwise, its economy and the interests of its people will suffer from the tensed bilateral relations. 


Newspaper headline: Oz hyping ‘spy’ stories reflects nervousness