Former foreign minister Bob Carr defends being in China during military show of force
Bob Carr says he did not attend the military parade while he was in Beijing. (AAP: Gaye Gerard)
In short:
Bob Carr has defended his attendance at a WWII commemoration event in Beijing.
He said was not at the military parade attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Former Victorian premier Dan Andrews was at the parade and posed for photos with Mr Putin and Mr Xi.
Australia's former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has defended being in China during a show of Chinese military force.
Mr Carr was in Beijing at the same time as Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping met and China rolled out a massive military parade as a show of force.
Mr Carr told 7.30 that he did not attend the parade but did attend a commemoration event earlier today.
The lavish event was held in part to mark 80 years since Japan's defeat at the end of World War II, but in June China's State Council Information Office stated at a press conference there were other reasons.
One was "to showcase the PLA's [People's Liberation Army] progress in modernisation, battle readiness and becoming a world-class force capable of integrated joint operations, mastering new technologies and forms of warfare".
Former Victorian premier Dan Andrews was at the parade and posed for photos with Mr Putin and Mr Xi.
Daniel Andrews (pictured in the back row on the right) with world leaders including China's President Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. (AP Photo: Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
It was something Mr Carr said he personally would have avoided.
"I certainly would have avoided them [the photos]," Mr Carr said, before saying he could not speak for Mr Andrews, who has long held close ties to China.
"Dan Andrews can speak for himself," Mr Carr told 7.30.
"He's someone who's been battered to death by media hostility in his own state and gone on to win … he can defend himself."
Mr Carr told 7.30 that despite the huge show of military might, he was simply there to mark an historic occasion and said that he made it clear to the Chinese ambassador to Australia he was not there for the parade.
Chinese air force personnel march during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)
"When I accepted the invitation to come to the commemoration of China's enormously historically significant victory over the Japanese aggressor, I was coming to the commemoration," he told 7.30.
"I was here for the terrific meetings that I've been able to hold today with countries that are like-minded, not countries that are aggressors or oppressors."
Challenged by 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson that the parade was always the main focus of the event, Mr Carr defended his position.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AP: Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
He said he was first invited in April and it was for the commemoration of China's victory over the Japanese in World War II.
In that conflict Japanese troops invaded China and committed several atrocities, particularly during an event known as the Nanjing Massacre, in which the invading military was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens.
Mr Carr reiterated that was his reason for being in Beijing.
Missiles on display during the military parade in Beijing. (AP: Ng Han Guan)
"I didn't hesitate for a second because this Chinese story was a great part of the story of the victory of the allies … and one of the great narratives of World War II with direct implications for Australia," he said.
"I didn't come here because of the parade.
"Do you think that I was excited by the idea of watching weapons from a stand? I wasn't."
Trump is no Putin
One world leader who also has a love of a military show of force is US President Donald Trump.
Vladimir Putin met with Donald Trump in Alaska last month. (AP: Jae C Hong)
He used it in a meeting with Mr Putin in Alaska and he also held a parade in Washington in June for the 250th anniversary of the US Army.
Questioned whether that put the US president in the same category as his Russian counterpart, Mr Carr gave an emphatic no.
"I believe Trump has emerged as the leader of a post-democratic America," Mr Carr told 7.30.
"What I don't believe is he is in the category of Putin, who has breached the UN charter and breached every norm we know of against aggression in this monstrously cruel invasion of Ukraine.
"I don't put Trump in the category of Putin, who bears responsibility for that."
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