Chinese-Australians need to come together

A new burst of messaging against China has been unleashed again by Australian newspapers and the Four Corners program of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, giving the impression that hostile forces are threatening Australia. In March, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans said, "a new form of Sinophobia is emerging". He said this is one of the reasons Chinese-Australians are under-represented in senior leadership in Australia.

Sometimes there have been legitimate concerns lying beneath the surface of the anti-China theory. I have not criticized the Australian government for banning foreign campaign donations or requiring representatives of foreign governments to register with the authorities. On Huawei, I am neutral. Who knows what evidence was considered by the Australian National Security Committee of the Cabinet to justify the ban on the world's biggest telecommunications company as a supplier of 5G equipment?

Publicity conflated, tinged with racism