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China has again lashed out at former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, doubling down on its criticism after Mr Abbott's visit to Taiwan, during which he accused Beijing of being a bully.
Key points:
- China has formally complained to Canberra over Mr Abbott's remarks
- In a second crack at Mr Abbott's comments, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman says his remarks were "immoral, irresponsible and doomed to be unpopular"
- The spokesman also rejected the Indian army's statement that China was not doing enough to end a 17-month border standoff
Speaking at a conference in Taiwan last week, former prime minister Abbott expressed enthusiastic support for the island, which is claimed by China.
"Nothing is more pressing right now than solidarity with Taiwan," he said at the time.
The former prime minister also took aim at China's expanding control over Hong Kong, its treatment of Uyghurs and the country's troubled trade relationship with Australia.
"It's boosted cyber spying on its own citizens, cancelled popular personalities in favour of a cult of the red emperor, brutalised Indian soldiers in the Himalayas, coerced other claimants in its eastern seas and flown ever more intimidatory sorties against Taiwan," Mr Abbott said in Taipei on Friday.
Firing back at a a daily news briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the comments had "severely violated the one-China principle and sent a seriously wrong signal".
"The remarks made by the individual Australian politicians are extremely absurd, [and] totally confuse right and wrong," Mr Zhou said.
"We urge the individual concerned in Australia to abandon cold war thinking and ideological bias, respect basic facts, look at China and its development objectively and rationally, and stop making irresponsible remarks."
Mr Zhou said Beijing had made "formal complaints" with Canberra.
Mr Abbott's visit was just days after after China carried out four days of mass air force incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone.
Like most countries, Australia has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which maintains it is an independent country.
In recent times Beijing has imposed official and unofficial trade barriers against Australian products including wine, coal and barley following Australia's call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
China–India border tensions drag on
Regarding the tensions at the China–India border, Mr Zhao refuted an Indian army statement criticising China for not providing any "forward-looking proposals" during the latest military commander talks set to end a 17-month border standoff.
Mr Zhao said the statement was "unfounded" and China had made "great efforts" to cool down the tension in the border area.
"We hope that the Indian side will not misjudge the situation, cherish the hard-won situation now in the border area, abide by the relevant agreements, treaties and consensus between the two militaries," Mr Zhao said.
Indian and Chinese army commanders met on Sunday and discussed steps to disengage troops from key friction areas along their disputed border.
A written statement on Monday from a Chinese military spokesperson said "the Indian side sticks to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations," while India army said it has made "constructive suggestions" but China was not "agreeable".
ABC/AP