Letters | Anti-China bias in Australian media does neither country any favours

I have since viewed the transcript. The interviewer seemed to try hard to put words together for the ambassador to repeat or agree to, with limited success. The journalist finally pressed for a definitive answer: “So a boycott of Australia?” The ambassador replied, “I don’t know. I hope not.” My disappointment goes further: the ambassador said many positive things in that long interview, which went under-reported.

Since that interview, many other journalists have jumped on the bandwagon, scrambling to accuse the ambassador and China of intimidation. Unfortunately, an atmosphere of distrust of China has prevailed.

When some government computer networks were hacked in 2019, China was immediately cited as a suspect in the media. In an interview, the journalist failed to ask the most obvious question of “Why do you suspect China?” but chose to ask something like “What should Australia do about it?”