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Chinese news outlet The Global Times has criticised Australia’s “anti-intellectual” response to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney, accusing the government of using the same harsh measures for which China was criticised.
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The Global Times published a blistering attack on Australia’s recent response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney, taking aim at an apparent double standard in the government’s attacks on Chinese authoritarianism while mustering the ADF to support the NSW Police.
“Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in June 2020 that 'some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy to promote their own more authoritarian models'. An AP News report analysed she was referencing China and Russia,” The Global Times wrote.
“Now, quite ironically, it turns out that Canberra plans to send its military personnel to help enforce social lockdown.”
Citing Chen Hong, the professor and director at the Australian Studies Centre in East China Normal University, the paper went as far to call Australia’s recent government response ‘draconian’.
“To help ensure the effectiveness of the lockdown, Australia's move to send military personnel into Sydney seems draconian among nations," Chen said in The Global Times.
According to the outlet, Australia had attacked China’s use of “lockdowns, QR code inspection, mass vaccination and other measures", before realising that they would form integral parts in Australia's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The attacks on the Australian government didn't stop there. In fact, The Global Times went as far as to call some of the Australian public “anti-intellectual”.
“In Australia, a so-called liberal democracy, some of the public tend to be anti-intellectual. They ignore the common sense of public health, refuse to wear masks and object to taking vaccines. In a bid to effectively handle the pandemic, Australia has to take drastic measures.”
