Australia's anti-China stance proves fertile ground for racism

Except for himself, no one knows what triggered Australian Nationals' senator Barry O'Sullivan's outburst of racial invective against the Chinese on Tuesday. During a Senate estimates hearing over the proposed Biosecurity Imports Levy in Canberra, O'Sullivan declared that "some bloody old Chinaman" bringing in "his favorite sausage down the front of his undies" poses more risk to Australia's biosecurity than levy-paying importers.

Such disgusting remarks, which are definitely unacceptable in any civilized society, have naturally sparked the "sternest" condemnation from the Chinese embassy in Australia. Even the Australian Human Rights Commission's race discrimination commissioner has termed O'Sullivan's comments as "racially derogatory", and said they would be "offensive and insulting to many Australians, including more than 1.2 million Australians of Chinese heritage".

But this is not the first time that O'Sullivan has courted controversy with such offensive remarks. He has previously been criticized for making sexist comments about a Greens senator, and sparked outrage for voicing an "appalling and offensive" slur against people with autism. The fact that the prejudiced politician can continue staging ugly political stunts by going to the extremes throughout the years is a disgrace to democracy, and reflects an ugly side of Australia's political culture.