Tony Donaldson
A propaganda piece published in The Australian on 2 October 2020. depicted the Pope as an evil monster with horns, as if the CCP is controlling him
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1) China is evil 2) The Vatican have an agreement with China 3) Therefore, the Vatican and Pope is evil. This is a load of baloney .
The entire article is misleading, and sets out to demonize the Vatican and to portray Pompeo as some God-like savour.
The headline “Pact with Communist shames the Vatican” is a pure propaganda headline. It is NOT a news headline. There is no evil pact and there is no shame.
This is the type of technique propagandists use to advance their own interests and the last thing they are interested in is the truth and being fair and reasonable.
Pompeo demanded the Vatican renounce its so-called “pact with the Chinese Communist Party.” It is misleading because the Vatican have relations with the government of China, not the CCP.
Pompeo declares: the “[pact with China] jeopardises the church’s moral authority.” It is not for Pompeo to determine what is or is not moral. He is not God. Strong words, very powerful in the media and is designed to manipulate Australians into thinking Pompeo is a Great Christain Crusader, the Vatican is evil unless it follows Pompeo. It is also about sabotaging the Vatican’s relationship with China, and to compel the Vatican to join with the US.
I know Catholic priests who have worked in China for many years without problems, and those that have left the country do so with very fond memories. We don’t hear their stories. I am not convinced the way the story is represented here is factually correct.
The essay is also misleading on climate change. In fact, in a speech to the UN general assembly, President Xi announced China will drive down emissions to zero by 2060, but it would better if they could do it by 2050. On the other hand, the US government has failed to meet its obligations on climate change, refuses to cut emissions, has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement for selfish reasons and in-fact will increase emissions. So the article is wrong.
Again, we see ASPI coming in with the old tried Uiqhur Muslim internment camp propaganda which is based on shoddy research by one US scholar who is intensley anti-CCP, and pro-Taiwan. None of these people, including those at ASPI, have done any fieldwork in China to know what things are like, and would probably not be allowed to because ASPI is an anti-China political outfit.
The kind of language and pressure Pompeo was putting on The Vatican, he has been doing the same all over the world, and I have no doubt he will put enormous pressure on the Sri Lankan government, and if they do not yield to his demands, he will demonize them.
As with the rest of Asia, Sri Lanka should not be forced into choosing sides between China and the US. They should be free to work with both countries on their own terms. This is the way Singapore, Malaysia, and most other countries in Asia are going. If Pompeo does insist that Sri Lanka make a choice between the US and China, then the only choice for Sri Lanka is to ignore Pompeo, and to pursue its own national interests. The French President Macron is also tiring of this stupid US-China rivalry and wants Europe to build a World Order that is independent of the rivalry.
One final point, all of those issues about Uighur Muslims, Climate Change, and all those things have no relevance whatsoever to Vatican-China relations but are dragged out time and time again to demonize China for political reasons. Much of it is propaganda. The point is it is not relevant but propaganda writers draw on such cards everytime to manipulate us
1) China is evil
2) The Vatican have an agreement with China
3) Therefore, the Vatican and Pope is evil
This is a load of baloney
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ADDENDUM: in the case of Sri Lanka, if the government does not follow Pompeo’s demands, the Mudroch media will drag up every piece of dirt on SL such as human rights abuses, docitorial power grabs, debt traps, using the port in the south as military bases and any other suc garbage that can be used to manipulate public thinking — the same old tricks again and again. It is not journalism.
