Asian embassies attacked as Australian race debate rages
Asian embassies attacked as Australian race debate rages
SYDNEY (AFP): The Australian government has been forced to upgrade diplomatic security after Chinese and Malaysian missions were both targeted in attacks blamed on a race debate raging here, officials said yesterday.
Missiles were fired, probably by a slingshot, through the windows of the Chinese Consulate-General here on four consecutive nights in October, a foreign affairs spokesman in Canberra told AFP.
China's ambassador, Hua Junduo, complained to the Australian government on Monday about the consequences for bilateral relationships of the fierce debate sparked by an independent MP's comments that immigration should be halted.
Racist hate mail has been sent to the Malaysian consulate in Sydney and Kuala Lumpur has reported to Canberra that its staff here has received death threats.
The incidents, highly embarrassing to the Australian government, have come at a time when relationships with some Asian neighbors, particularly China, are proving fragile.
Beijing has protested about the recent visit by the Dalai Lama, cuts in foreign aid and the increasing warmth of the U.S.- Australia alliance with upgraded defense arrangements which it fears are aimed at containing China.
The now notorious anti-Asian comments of independent MP Pauline Hanson, which are being blamed for the attacks have angered China, Singapore and Thailand, among others.
They were particularly concerned that Prime Minister John Howard did not directly condemn Hanson who told parliament in her maiden speech that Australia was being "swamped with Asians" and called for a halt to immigration.
A Thai senator called recently for Howard's resignation over the issue.
Efforts to hose it down with a strong bipartisan motion condemning racism and affirming government support for a non- discriminatory immigration policy appears to have failed to satisfy at least the Chinese.
The attacks on the consulates were confirmed by a foreign affairs spokesman who said: "The Federal Police are investigating these incidents as a matter of great concern. The Australian government is very concerned."
He said the incidents had been reported to the Diplomatic Protection Service which is responsible for the protection of diplomatic premises in Australia.
The attacks on the Chinese mission occurred between Oct. 15 and 18 at the height of the row over the Hanson speech, which polls suggest won widespread support in the Australian community.
Melbourne's lord mayor and former car industry chief Ivan Deveson meantime warned Friday that Australian politicians should visit Asia to repair the damage done to the country's image by the race row.
Deveson, former head of Nissan Australia, told a business luncheon in Adelaide that a recent trip to Asia was marred by racial threats provoked by Hanson's comments.
He said it was now up to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Prime Minister John Howard to heal the rift.
"I think either Mr Downer or Mr Howard should go and meet our major Asian partners face-to-face and put to them for once and for all any doubt about the fact that we have an on-going commitment to multi-culturalism," Deveson told reporters.
"We are a very successful multi-cultural nation, but in my visit to the area last week, I was personally devastated by the press and the innuendos and some mild threats that accompanied me wherever I went."