Irritated by Australia's Pacific trust deficit, China dismisses country as 'not important'

Australia's Foreign Policy White Paper has parts where China came across as a villain. Clearly, this has pissed Beijing off.

File picture of Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull with Chinese President XI Jinping. (Picture: Chinese Foreign Ministry)

NEW DELHI: China is clearly irritated by the Australian foreign policy white paper released on Thursday, which painted Beijing as a problem. A Chinese government-run newspaper has hit back at Australia, dismissing it as 'narrow minded' and 'not important', and saying China can afford to 'disregard its sensitivities'.

Australia's concerns over China were outlined in its first Foreign Policy White Paper in 17 years, released on Thursday by Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull. 

The document outlined the way Australia views the world, and there were significant parts where China came across as a villain. Clearly, this pissed Beijing off.

"Australia calls itself a civilized country, but its behavior is confusing. While it is economically dependent on China, it shows little gratitude," said Chinese government-run newspaper Global Times in a sharp editorial. Global Times is considered close to the Communist Party of China and its editorials are widely considered articulations of the party policies.

"Affected by China's rise, Australia has adopted a narrow-minded mentality toward this trend. As the US government welcomes China's peaceful rise, Canberra continues with its negative attitude," the editorial continued.

Also on China's mind seems to be Australia's participation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that was launched recently with the US, India and Japan. The goal of the dialogue was perceptibly to contain China's rising military and territorial adventurism.

"Australia, with its limited strength, cannot sustain an influential foreign policy white paper. The newly released paper will neither evoke ASEAN countries nor affect Washington," was another stinger the paper threw.

"Australia after all is not part of the Asian continent. China should prepare both a friendly face and a cold shoulder," the editorial concluded.