Canberra still has work to do
In an apparent move to mitigate the negative impact of his home affairs minister's latest anti-China remarks, the Australia prime minister sought to play down the skirmish they sparked by saying on Saturday that the comments of the two sides simply reflect the differences between the two countries.
On Friday, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton lashed out at China, alleging that Australia was not going to allow the theft of intellectual property, the hacking of government or non-government organizations, or university students to be unduly influenced by China.
His remarks immediately drew strong opposition from China as none of them was based on fact or reason. To most observers, it seemed that Dutton was simply rehashing the tired old clich��s about the so-called theft of intellectual property and hacking that the United States likes to levy against China.
