\n China on Tuesday said Australia should remember Japan's war crimes during World War II before cosying up to the regional power.\n<\/p>\n
\n Australia's centre-left government has been trying to repair its relationship with China, which soured considerably under the former conservative government.\n<\/p>\n
\n But it has also recently signed a new security pact with China's regional rival Japan, seen as an attempt to limit Beijing's muscle in the Pacific region.\n<\/p>\n
\n China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said Canberra should be cautious about trusting Japan, given its attacks on Australia during World War II.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"During the Second World War Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians and shot Australian (prisoners of war),\" he told reporters.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Be careful about what might happen in the future. When someone threatens you, he might threaten you again.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"China has been your friend.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Xiao had bristled when asked about Japan's ambassador to Australia, who told The Australian newspaper that there was a need to remain \"vigilant\" of China.\n<\/p>\n
\n China slapped tariffs on key Australian exports such as barley and wine at the height of the dispute in 2020, and unofficially halted imports of Australian coal.\n<\/p>\n
\n At one point Chinese government ministers even refused to take calls from their Australian counterparts.\n<\/p>\n
\n Australia's former government angered China by repeatedly questioning its human rights record, and by pushing for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak.\n<\/p>\n
\n Xiao acknowledged that trade had been \"disrupted\" in recent years, but said he was hopeful it would \"get back to normal\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China on Tuesday said Australia should remember Japan's war crimes during World War II before cosying up to the regional power. Australia's centre-left government has been trying to repair its relationship with China, which soured considerably under the former conservative government. But it has also recently signed a new security pact with China's regional rival […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-110968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n