Australian PM criticised for not directly condemning Senator who asked Chinese-Australians to denounce CCP

Asian-Australians have asked why Scott Morrison did not issue a stronger response to his party colleague Eric Abetz’s ‘McCarthyist racism’

The opposition said an apology was necessary and if it did not come from Abetz, the government should step in and ‘stand up for an inclusive community’

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to condemn comments by Senator Eric Abetz. Photo: EPA

Su-Lin Tan

Published: 5:00am, 17 Oct 2020Updated: 12:07pm, 17 Oct 2020

Corrected [11:54am, 17 Oct, 2020]

[11:54am, 17 Oct, 2020]
The headline of this story has been amended for clarity to reflect Australian PM Scott Morrison's response to media questions about Senator Eric Abetz's line of questioning of three Chinese-Australians. His exact quote has been added in the story, along with a comment made by his office on Saturday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s refusal to directly condemn a senator’s demand for three Chinese-Australians to denounce Beijing has drawn criticism amid mounting public anger in Asian-Australian communities over the incident, with the opposition on Friday saying an apology was necessary.

Morrison on Friday was asked about Senator Eric Abetz’s line of questioning of Australians Osmond Chiu, Wesa Chau and Jiang Yun at a Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade public inquiry earlier in the week, and if denouncing the Chinese Communist Party was a pledge foreign-born Australians must make.

Said Morrison: “There is only one pledge that any Australian citizen should take and that’s the pledge they take when they become an Australian citizen.”

Asked what he made of Abetz’s question, he did not respond directly but only said “the normal practices should be observed”.

The prime minister’s spokesman on Saturday told This Week in Asia that while Morrison did not directly condemn his party colleague’s actions, he “contradicted” Abetz’s approach.

Standing firm against ugly dictatorships is everyone’s duty. I, therefore, make no apology for the exchange between Mr Chiu and myself yesterday

Senator Eric Abetz

Abetz, straying from the government inquiry’s focus on issues facing diaspora communities earlier this week, had asked Osmond Chiu, Wesa Chau and Jiang Yun whether they were “willing to unconditionally condemn the Chinese Communist Party dictatorship”.