..

ANU’s Professor John Blaxland said the speech Chinese envoy Wang Xining gave was akin to “passing down a curse” as he spoke of China’s critics being cast aside by history and their own families.

“My sense is this speech was meant to be out there and it was threatening, it was threatening to people who have been critical of China, the People’s Republic of China, and of the Chinese Communist Party,” he told Sky News host Catherine McGregor.

Mr Blaxland said it was “quite ominous” and said it was double standards for Mr Wang to say this in Australia with no backlash from China after a British envoy was slammed for talking about free speech.

“Everybody loves a good set of double standards and the Chinese embassy in Canberra right up there on the list.”

..