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Greg Hunt blindsided as Chinese consul-general crashes press conference 澳洲卫生部长Greg Hunt 的新闻发布会被澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester 带 中国总领事 龙舟闯入 发布会是在4月29举行，当时澳洲外交部和总理办公室没收到任何提前通知，Andrew Forrester会带中国总领事一起参加。由于这个原因，澳洲卫生部长Greg Hunt 没有让中国总领事 龙舟接受任何采访。但中国总领事 龙舟在发言时候提到，中国政府一直本着透明，公开的态度和WHO合作，并指责了澳洲政府的态度。过去一周，北京一直在指责澳洲政府提出的公开调查covid－19的起源国问题。 之前澳洲卫生部长Greg Hunt 并不知情。当天澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester被邀请参与新闻发布会，但Andrew Forrester并没提前告知任何澳洲官员他会带中国总领事 龙舟一起参加。澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester这样做是为了修复中澳关系。 澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester从中国买入了 10， 000， 000 只新冠测试剂捐赠给澳洲政府。这个举动让澳洲新管测试剂的存货量提高了20倍。 澳洲消息人士称，矿业大亨Andrew Forrester 带 中国总领事 龙舟闯入 卫生部长的发布会其实不是坏事，完全可以利用这个机会让中澳关系缓和一下。 澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester一直提倡澳洲和其他国家／组织 不要现在提出调查covid－19的起源国问题，应该等到11月美国大选结束后，并不要只调查中国，应该聚焦其他可能发源的国家。Andrew Forrester说澳洲现在提倡调查起源国，肯定会被视为有政治性和政治目的，美国应该是澳洲的好朋友，中国也应该是澳洲的好朋友。澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester在中国有大量的生意投资。 很多自由党领袖指责澳洲矿业大亨Andrew Forrester的做法，说澳洲人应该忠于澳洲。不应该让外国势力告诉我们应该怎么做。维洲自由党议员James Paterson指责Andrew Forrester只是生意人，只会做生意，不应该涉入政治问题。 中国供应这些测试计的公司BGI 的总裁 王健说，这些测试计他卖了32，000， 000澳币给Andrew Forrester的慈善公司 Minderoo Foundation。 BGI 的总裁 王健高度赞扬了Andrew Forrester的此次慈善捐购。 澳洲其他生意组织发言人，都指责了澳洲政府的做法。 Tony Battaglene, 是澳洲葡萄酒业总理，他说目前疫情中国和澳洲的疫情都得到良好控制，应该利用这个契机，加强商业来往。而不是做政治口水战。澳洲BEGA奶酪厂厂长也说，希望澳洲尽快修复中澳关系。毕竟很多澳洲企业依赖中国。 这周澳洲总理莫里森和财长福来登博格，说澳洲政府会坚定澳洲要调查covid－19起源国的立场。 原文：https://www.smh.com.au/politics/ ... 54oa6.html#comments    Billionaire miner Andrew Forrest has been accused of ambushing the Australian government after he parachuted one of China’s top diplomats into an official event, blindsiding Health Minister Greg Hunt. Mr Forrest, the Fortescue chairman, surprised Mr Hunt by inviting China’s consul-general for Victoria Zhou Long to speak alongside him on Wednesday after he secured 10 million coronavirus tests from China, a 20-fold increase in Australia’s testing capacity. The audacious bid to mend a deteriorating political relationship between Beijing and Canberra follows increasing pressure from corporate leaders for Australia to back down on its public threats to pursue China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing has spent the past week accusing Australia of being a bully pushing US interests in the region and warned Chinese consumers could walk out on Australian brands if it continues to lobby for a global independent inquiry into the disease. Mr Hunt did not introduce Mr Zhou and did not allow him to take questions. The Foreign Minister's Office and the Prime Minister's Office also were not informed of Mr Zhou's attendance at the media event, which was held at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne. Mr Zhou used the opportunity to repudiate the Australian government's criticisms and praise China's handling of the crisis. The consul-general said China had worked in an "open, transparent and responsible" manner with the World Health Organisation. Government sources said the hijacking of the press conference could work in Australia's favour by demonstrating it was willing to put a week of escalating tensions behind it. Mr Forrest, who has made significant investments in China through iron ore, urged Australia and global health authorities to delay any inquiry into the virus until after the US election in November and said it should not just be focussed on China. "That would make it instantly political," he said. "Australia needs to walk that line where we have a best friend in America, a best friend in China, best friends across South-East Asia." Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson said Mr Forrest "is worth listening to on how to run a successful mining company. I don’t think the government will be following his advice on foreign policy.” Another Liberal MP, Tim Wilson, said "in a diplomatic disagreement it's a pretty basic expectation for Australians to be loyal and back their own, not invite a platform for a foreign spokesperson”. Other MPs said Mr Hunt was clearly ambushed and given little warning. The chairman of medical company BGI, Wang Jian, praised the strength of the business relationship between Mr Forrest and China. Mr Wang sold the test kits to Mr Forrest's philanthropic Minderoo Foundation for $320 million. "We were able to protect supply chains for this extremely rare equipment and have Andrew deliver it straight to Australia," he said. The privately sourced kits will see Australia's testing capacity bolstered by 10 million more tests as it looks to expand asymptomatic testing and re-open the economy. As of Wednesday, Australia has conducted more than 500,000 tests. Tony Battaglene, chief executive of industry group Australian Grape and Wine, said he was concerned about the ongoing broader diplomatic spat between China and Australia being played out in public. "[The market] is even more important now with COVID-19, in that China is going to be the first export market to recover in the world and we need to be in a position to take advantage of that. Because that will drive our recovery," he said. China is going to be the first export market to recover in the world and we need to be in a position to take advantage of that. Tony Battaglene, chief executive of Australian Grape and Wine "I don't think tit-for-tat stuff through the media is the right way to treat a respected trading partner. And I think if Australia wants to talk about these things then it needs to actually go to China individually, or else work through a coalition with the UN." Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin said he hoped the dispute would be resolved and "good relations are restored in a reasonable amount of time". Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday Australia would press ahead with its pursuit of the inquiry after calling European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen overnight. "We discussed this issue," he said. "The Europeans are bringing forward a motion on this matter at the world health assembly. I think it is a very good motion." China's Foreign Ministry has become increasingly agitated about Australia's push for the global inquiry. "Australian side's erroneous words and deeds recently have upset the Chinese people and that may impact bilateral relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday night. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said China’s criticisms of Australia were "ludicrous". "The reality is Australia thinks it’s prudent and sensible for there to be an independent and transparent investigation into the origins of this global pandemic that has killed thousands and thousands of people across the world,” he told Sky News. with Michael Fowler |
