China considered today, Tuesday, that Australia should remember the war crimes committed by Japan during World War II before it got closer to Tokyo, with which Canberra signed a historic security agreement last October.
"During World War II, Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians, and shot Australians" of prisoners of war, said Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian.
He added, "Beware of what will happen in the future, when someone threatens you, he can threaten you again," noting that "China was your friend."
The Australian center-left government is trying to mend relations with Beijing, which were greatly strained under the previous Conservative government.
But it signed a historic security agreement, last October, with Japan, China's regional rival, aimed at countering China's military rise.
Japan's ambassador to Australia told The Australian newspaper this week that "we should beware of China," angering Xiao.
China is Australia's largest trading partner, but the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated over the past years.
The dispute between the two countries reached its climax in 2020 when Canberra demanded an investigation to determine the origin of the “Corona virus”, and excluded the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Group from the project to extend the fifth generation Internet network “G-5”.
China responded by imposing a series of economic measures targeting dozens of Australian products, notably barley, meat and wine.
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