I can’t stomach reading the ABC news any longer. Their journalists must be either the most ignorant people on the planet or the most deceitful. The choice is not flattering.

Consider this sentence from this morning’s ABC article “What the Trump and Zelensky fallout means for Australian Foreign Policy” where Stephen Dziedzic, the ABC’s “foreign affairs reporter”, wrote:

“Nowhere is this challenge more acute than in Taiwan, which faces relentless military and political coercion from China, and which remains the most dangerous potential flashpoint in the region.”

In writing this sentence, Dziedzic is of course seamlessly plugging into the “China bad” hysteria which seems to pass as “news” these days.

What would be the implications if we rewrote that sentence using the proper names of the territories involved?

“Nowhere is this challenge more acute than in the Republic of China, which faces relentless military and political coercion from the People’s Republic of China, and which remains the most dangerous potential flashpoint in the region.”

The sentence kinda loses its sting, doesn’t it? Instead of the heart-thumping terror of big bad China menacing the poor defenceless little independent Taiwan, we face instead the intriguing puzzle: How can China invade China? What’s going on? Will the real China please stand up?

And the answers to these questions reveal the dirty little secret of Australia’s mainstream media.

Our journalists are either fools, or engage in deliberate obfuscation.

A search on Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website reveals Australia’s official stand on this matter. It’s called the “One China Policy”.

“Australia adheres to its one-China policy, which means we do not recognise Taiwan as a country.”

Whoa! If Taiwan is not a country, then what is it?

Reading further, the DFAT website reveals that “Australia’s Joint Communique with the PRC recognised the Government of the PRC as China’s sole legal government and acknowledged the position of the PRC that Taiwan was a province of the PRC.”

In short, Taiwan is a (renegade) province of China that has delusions of grandeur carried over from the civil war in 1946 and thinks it is the rightful ruler of all of China, which is why its constitution is headed “Republic of China” and why the same constitution has provisions for how its “parliament” should have representatives elected from all the other “provinces” on the mainland — including Tibet and Mongolia!

Sort of like if Tasmania had the same delusions and whipped up a constitution that declared that Hobart was the capital of Australia, and the Tasmanian Parliament spoke for all of Australia and should therefore be filled with representatives from all the other states and territories.

Canberra would beg to differ, as does Beijing with Taiwan.

And if the Taiwan question is simply a matter of which part of China rules which part of China, then what business is it of Australia’s, or any other country in the world (Are you listening Donald Trump?) as to what actually happens in a matter which is clearly something that one part of China needs to sort out with the other part of China?

The Taiwan region is only a “dangerous potential flashpoint” if stupid Australia decides to follow the even more stupid America in meddling in issues which are none of its business. How would Australians feel if the moment Tasmanians decided to cosplay their delusions, China started selling them guns and fighter jets to “defend” themselves from mainland Australia, and once a month sailed a carrier force through the Bass Strait while loudly declaring they were only engaging in FONOPS (Freedom of Navigation Operations)?

Not nice behaviour? Well, that’s what America is doing to China by selling arms to Taiwan and sailing carrier fleets through the Taiwan Straits.

So here is my challenge to Stephen Dziedic:

Either you do not know these facts, or you do know these facts.

I put it to you that:

If the former, you are a fool and should not be writing in the public domain.

If the latter, you are deceitful, willing to sell your writing skills to perform whichever verbal tricks your client asks you to perform.

Which one is it? I invite your response.