Meme me up, Scotty

AN IMAGE PROBLEM

The Chinese embassy in Canberra has alleged that the “misreading of and overreaction” to a Twitter post by diplomat Zhao Lijian by Australian politicians and media is an attempt to deflect public attention from Australian war crimes, blame China “for the worsening of bilateral ties”, and, in the accusation probably closest to the mark, an “attempt to stoke domestic nationalism”.

The comments come as the ABC reports Scott Morrison has turned to Chinese social media platform WeChat to again press his government’s position, while political computer graphic artist Fu Yu aka Qilin has put out a video explaining he created the image because he was furious over revelations in the Brereton report and called on the prime minister to put his “attention and effort on his domestic affairs”.

Elsewhere, The Australian ($) reports that Australian embassy officials have met Chinese counterparts in Beijing to seek a formal apology over the image, while The Guardian reports the French and New Zealand governments have joined Australia’s criticisms.

Finally, lest the debate over war crimes in Afghanistan be side-tracked by state-sanctioned trolling and horrific images that perhaps are not altogether different to News Corp cartoons, The Guardian has uncovered a photograph of an Australian soldier drinking beer out of a dead Taliban fighter’s prosthetic leg in a special forces bar.

PS: In another example of international solidarity, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a group of 200 global MPs, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), has launched a campaign for Australian wine after the sector was hit with tariffs of up to 212% by China.

BORDERS START TO REOPEN

As the ABC explains, the Western Australian government yesterday announced plans to lift its borders to Victoria and NSW from 12.01am Tuesday December 8, although it still considers South Australia a “medium risk” state and will continue to require 14-day quarantines until at least December 11.

Premier Mark McGowan labelled it a “remarkable achievement” for Victoria to pass WA’s benchmark of 28 days without community spread, and he expects New South Wales will reach the same milestone on Friday.

The announcement came as South Australia, which has now clocked in two days of no new cases, opened its border to Victoria.

PS: While America’s FDA will now consider both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccine candidates for emergency approval in mid-December, meaning drugs could be rolled-out by Christmas, The Sydney Morning Herald explains that it will still be months into 2021 before anyone in Australia gets a shot.

A SAFE DEBT?

The Australian ($) reports that pandemic budgets will see state government debt more than double to nearly $500 billion within four years, a level that exceeds the peak rate of borrowing as a share of GDP seen in the early 1990s recession.

The figures, which the paper notes leaves states exposed to credit rating downgrades, came after Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick handed down a budget that will see debt increase to $130 billion by 2023-24 amid increased borrowings and falling revenue. In a reminder that not even a pandemic can shake deficit anxiety, Dick emphasised the figures are still lower than NSW and Victoria.

Finally, while the budget joins eastern neighbours in going hard on “renewable energy zones“, market analysts speaking to The Guardian have labelled the state government’s forecasts that the volume of coal and petroleum exports will rebound and grow as “delusional”.