Chinese government gives Australia a masterclass in ‘gaslighting’
Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to pick up the phone and call China’s President Xi Jinping about a confrontation in the Yellow Sea.
It comes after a fighter jet from the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force dropped flares in the immediate flight path of an ADF Seahawk conducting routine operations off HMAS Hobart in the Yellow Sea on Saturday night.
China has since backflipped on its earlier assessment of a critical incident involving an ADF helicopter, now accusing Australia of spying on its navy.
“He should pick up the phone and put the call through to President Xi, even if the phone is not picked up he’s done that on behalf of our uniform personnel and that’s a really important signal,” Mr Hastie told Sky News host Sharri Markson.
Chinese government gives Australia a masterclass in ‘gaslighting’
“It sends a signal that he’s got their back in moments like this because I agree wholeheartedly with what the CDF said today the actions of the Chinese were illegal coercive, aggressive and deceptive.
“Deceptive because the Chinese government is giving us a masterclass at the moment in gaslighting, flipping the tables and accusing us of spying.”