Australian Cabinet Minister Peter Dutton addresses the media at Parliament House in Canberra.
“We strongly condemn his malicious slur on the Communist Party of China, which constitutes an outright provocation to the Chinese people,” the embassy said in the statement. “Such ridiculous rhetoric severely harms the mutual trust between China and Australia and betrays the common interests of the two peoples.”
Australia, which counts China as its largest export market and trading partner, has seen relations with Beijing deteriorate after it banned Huawei Technologies Co. from bidding for 5G contracts and introduced anti-foreign interference laws aimed at China.