Scott Morrison Photo:Xinhua

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had an unexpected Christmas "present" by joining TikTok, a popular Chinese-owned social media platform that he harshly criticized only a year ago.

Morrison opened his own official TikTok account on Christmas Eve and uploaded two video messages for the festive season, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday. In one video, Morrison and his pet dog extended Christmas wishes to Australian public. In the other video, he addressed COVID-19 pandemic challenges, according to the report.

However, Morrison's holiday greeting videos on TikTok reminded people of another short video message he shared last September, in which he criticized the Chinese video-sharing app, warning Australians that it "connects right back to China."

Morrison's awkward TikTok flip-flop reminds people of his current awkward position when it comes to China. Commenting on Morrison's Christmas message on TikTok, one individual commented: "Guess it's the only way they can communicate with China now."

In an interview with the CBS in September, Morrison complained that Chinese leaders won't take his phone calls. Although this is nothing but another publicity stunts for Morrison to play the victim, the fact indeed highlights the Morrison government' relentless provocation toward China has steered the bilateral relationship into a dead end.

Playing the US' anti-China vanguard in recent years, the Morrison government has been arbitrarily sabotaging the China-Australia relations. The latest example: Morrison in November said he support Australia's Minister for Defense Peter Dutton's reckless rhetoric on the Taiwan question. Earlier this month, Canberra staged another political stunt by joining the US in a "boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

In the economic arena, Australia was the first country to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network. In August 2020, Canberra also instructed its intelligence agencies to carry out a security probe into TikTok.

It is Canberra's arbitrary provocation that has derailed China-Australia relations, and the responsibility rests solely with Australia. Yet, judging from current situation, Morrison is determined to continue to play with fire. 

Morrison's awkward twist on TikTok this Christmas shows how bizarre his whole act has been, and no one will be fooled by his new publicity stunt. A netizen pointed out that "Morrison performs perfect hypocritical Tiktok flip-flop."

If Morrison has the sincerity to repair China-Australian relations, he knows what to do. As for what he has in store for his next TikTok show, let's wait and see.