Pathetic response

Last week, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison requested, in an assertive, firm and professional manner (as befitting a prime minister), an apology from China for a doctored image that had been tweeted by a Chinese government spokesperson on social media and which cruelly depicted an Australian soldier holding a knife to the head of an Afghani child.

China’s response was to retort that Australia should apologise for the killings of Afghan citizens and prisoners that some Australian soldiers committed.

It was a terrible crime and I am sure that most Australians were shocked, ashamed and wished that such dreadful acts never happened.

But China can hardly point fingers. An example are the detention centres China has built in the Xinjiang area to detain the Uighur minority (according to a BBC report, September, 2019. CNN has also reported on these centres).

China has claimed that these are ‘re-education’ centres (maybe they mean brainwashing centres). These centres look like prisons from the outside, with their high fencing and barbed wire.

Apparently, there were 100 centres built and some are still under construction.

There is a vast difference in the way Australia and China operate. Australia has been transparent in conducting the legal process to ensure that the soldiers face justice for the terrible actions they committed.

China, on the other hand, hides and misinforms. For example, it would not allow foreign investigators in to try and discover the truth about the origins of COVID-19.

Maybe China needs to also ensure that its human rights record is pristine before pointing fingers.

Mary Anne Gauci – St Paul’s Bay

Part-time earnings?

Whose idea was it to involve the prime minister’s wife in government activities, such as addressing particular activities as if she were an MP.

I remember Michelle Muscat speaking publicly but, as far as l know, she spoke at charitable activities in which she had some part.

I wonder, is Lydia Abela being paid for what she is doing?

Mary Brincat – Mosta

Sorry, but not all are equal

Arnold Cassola’s article ‘The arrogance of power’ (December 12) confirmed my belief that, in Malta, some people are more equal than others.

These are the powerful arrogants who can do what they like and what suits their pockets. The ordinary citizens who do their best to abideby the law, more often than not, have the eyes of the law staring at them.

This article immediately brought to my mind when, many years ago I was called to testify as a witness in a lawsuit.

At one point in time, I murmured something to my lawyer, which I felt was relevant to the case.

The magistrate, very politely, looked at me and asked: “Are you a lawyer, Madam?” I replied in the negative and offered my apologies.

As the saying goes, comparisons are odious.

How come then, Joseph Muscat, the declared prize-winner for 2019 for corruption, had the cheek to read a 20-minute script, tried to belittle the three board members, all judges, when he was called to testify in court some days ago and was not brought to book?

All this made me wonder how he was not accused of contempt of court!

However, it made me confirm that money and power (even if lost a few months ago) make some more equal than others.

Emily Barbaro-Sant – Mosta

Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@timesofmalta.com. Please include your full name, address and ID card number. The editor may disclose personal information to any person or entity seeking legal action on the basis of a published letter.