In recent months, concerns have grown in Australia over potential Chinese Communist Party interference in the country’s domestic politics, and in other areas such as education. Most recently, Charles Hamilton, a professor at Australia’s Charles Sturt University, revealed that his book about Chinese interference had been dropped by its publisher, Sydney-based Allen & Unwin, because it feared “potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing.”
The above cartoon, by Melbourne-based artist Badiucao (巴丢草), quite jarringly captures the sense of Chinese interference by playing with the two countries’ cuddliest identity stand-ins — the panda and the koala.