The fake image posted by the Chinese

in their official media has been justified by them as a "cartoon" which is commenting on allegations that a small number of soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

No, that does not justify it. Even if the image was not fake it could not be justified.  Posting an image like that cannot be justified at any time. Nobody should post  such things. If something that bad is true and the world needs to know about it then there are other ways of dealing with the situation.

We are currently "at war" with China in the sense that the Chinese have been placing massive tariffs on exported goods while making as yet unsubstantiated claims about "dumping". They are targetting a range of things they import from us - barley, wine, seafood, wool and more. It is all designed to do maximum damage to our industry and minimum damage to theirs. They are using the excuse of "dumping" over and over again - as if we have the same economic power as the United States or the European Union. Our nation's economy overall is about the size of California's.

The reality of course is  that China is flexing its considerable muscle for a number of reasons. The Chinese Communist Party wants us to know that they are unhappy with us. They object to the way in which we have not been silent and loyal to them.

 One of the many reasons for their displeasure had been the way in which a suggestion was made that the origins of the Covid19 virus should be investigated. The Chinese do not want this to occur at all. There could be a number of reasons for this - the obvious one being that they have had some part in it and don't wish to be held liable. That it might help them as well as the rest of the world prevent a similar pandemic is apparently of no interest to them. They almost certainly believe they can avoid such things without making any admissions or harming their image.

 Another is that the Chinese and the United States have been arguing over trade. While we officially have not taken sides in the argument the Chinese have chosen to believe that we have sided with the US. It seems we were supposed to side with them.

The Chinese do not like our failure to support their territorial claims in the South China sea or our failure to support their regional attempts to colonise countries by economic means. 

Here they object to any attempt to prevent the expansion of their business interests - not just the Huawei 5G network deals but their desire to buy increasingly large portions of real estate, sometimes in vital positions like ports. They want to "loan" money for infrastructure development - at a very heavy rate of interest (not always in traditional ways of interest either.)

The Chinese have also objected to any support for the pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong. This is "internal" business according to them. That they are breaking any agreement which might have been made is simply ignored.

China, a country with an appalling human rights record, lectured us yesterday. As they would have it we should be ashamed of ourselves. We have committed serious war crimes and much more. That the proper and open legal processes are now in place, that those involved will be required to answer the charges against them is not enough. They have ignored that an apology has been issued - and accepted - and that at least some financial compensation will be paid is also being ignored. China will acknowledge none of this - to do so would be to lose face. The Chinese Communist Party cannot afford to do that.

All this says more about the internal concerns of the CCP over their control of a country which is too big in more ways than one.  

Our Prime Minister was heavily criticised yesterday - criticised for his careful and measured response to what had been posted. He was clearly very, very angry - indeed furious. He made it plain that he wanted an apology - although he knows he is unlikely to get one. The Chinese Ambassador was called in to "explain". There will be much more going on in the next few days.

In all this the Chinese believe they have the upper hand. They believe that we will simply buckle under the pressure they exerting. It is their hope that we will simply give in and sell our goods to them at much lower prices and that we will not question their own actions in any sphere or their acquisition of any territory.

We stand to lose billions of dollars worth of trade. Finding other markets is going to be much more difficult than it would have been when Whitlam first made overtures to China. Doing so much trade with China seemed to be the answer to everything. It isn't. We need to trade with the rest of the world, not just China or even Asia. We will now need to work very hard to achieve even a fraction of what we might have had.