Matters controversial

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and his colleague, Senator James Patterson, have been denied visas to enter China for a planned study tour. Hastie and Paterson have both been critical of the Chinese government's human rights abuses against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang province, the unrest in Hong Kong and its alleged attempts to exert influence in Australia.

In response, a Chinese embassy spokesperson stated that the country would not "yield to colonisation of ideas and values" and called on the Liberal politicians to "genuinely repent and redress their mistakes." As of today, they have refused to do so.

It is an interesting choice of words to mention "colonisation," given that China can claim to have legitimate grievances over its treatment by Western colonial powers in the past. However, it used Communism, which originated in Western Europe, as its means to achieve sovereignty.

In more recent years, some critics of China's controversial Belt and Road infrastructure and development initiative contend that it is intended to project its power throughout the world, with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, for example, calling it "new colonialism," and Monika Chansoria of the Japan Institute of International Affairs calling it an "instrument of Chinese hegemony." n other words, it is behaving exactly like a colonial power.

Let's not forget that China has occupied Tibet since 1950, and its human rights abuses there are well documented. It also appears to be gradually tightening its repressive grip over Hong Kong.

China seems to not understand that no nation is above criticism. That's how international relations works. No nation is a law unto itself. It keeps its own citizens on a short leash, but it cannot treat foreign politicians the same way.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/06/bri-china-belt-road-initiative-blunder/

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/china-and-tibet

https://japan-forward.com/belt-and-road-initiative-debts-reduce-pakistan-to-chinas-client-state/

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/liberal-mp-andrew-hastie-hits-back-at-china-says-he-won-t-repent-for-criticism

A hellish nightmare of death and destruction

The Enola Gay in 1945

Theodore Van Kirk, the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima towards the end of the Second World War, has died aged 93. In an interview, Van Kirk defended the use of the bomb against Japan.

Whether or not using the bomb was necessary has long been debated by historians. Some argue that by July 1945, Japan's navy and air force had been nobbled, and it had little chance of victory. It was probably ready to surrender anyway. For this reason, using the atomic bomb was unnecessary. Having defeated Germany, the Soviet Union was planning to invade Japan, and started an offensive in August. It was overwhelmed. Fanaticism was keeping Japan at war, as was the hope that it could negotiate favourable surrender terms with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. This was a false hope.

Even so, this is the argument that I favour. Japan was still holding out, and the Allies were preparing to invade the Japanese mainland. Such an operation would have resulted in massive military and civilian casualties. Japan surrendered soon after the atomic bombs were dropped, firstly on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki.

As bad as the death toll and destruction from the bombings was, the alternative would have been much worse. This would probably have meant many more months of bloody combat. This course of action saved more lives than it cost. It also arguably curtailed the prospect of greater Soviet influence in Japan and Asia.

Yes, there have been some close shaves, such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, but it's a miracle that nuclear weapons haven't been used in war since 1945, and I pray that day never comes.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-30/last-member-of-enola-gay-crew-theodore-van-kirk-dies-aged-93/5635944

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/29/the_bomb_didnt_beat_japan_nuclear_world_war_ii?page=0,5

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/14/historians-soviet-offensive-key-japans-wwii-surrender-eclipsed-bombs/

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-cold-war-close-calls