Prof Chen Hong, Director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, claims Canberra bears "unavoidable responsibility" for the Bondi terror attack against the Jewish community, which killed 15 people, due to its support for Israel and the US.

Full quote: "Chen Hong emphasized that terrorist acts should be strongly condemned. At the same time, he contended that the Australian government, which has long followed the US and pursued a foreign policy that unilaterally favors Israel on the Israel-Palestine issue, bears unavoidable responsibility for multiple security crises, including the current incident."

Just like many of his peers in Chinese academia nowadays who prioritize ideological narratives over factual accuracy, if Chen - who had his AU visa revoked in 2020 after ASIO advised he posed a national security risk - had even minimal understanding on Australia's actual approach to the war and Israel, he would have found that Canberra has actively broken step with Washington on countless key issues.

The Albanese government took a turn against Israel as soon as it took office by reversing the Morrison government’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in October 2022.

After Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, it has been one of the most critical voices against the Jewish state, broke with the US on several UN votes, supported recognition of Palestinian statehood, and repeatedly called for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid.

For instance, in December 2024, Australia voted against the US with 156 other countries at the UN to end Israel's "unlawful presence" in Palestinian territories; it explicitly condemned "settler violence", sanctioned Israelis, and consistently called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "dire" and "unacceptable."

In fact, Australia’s stance has diverged so sharply that relations with Jerusalem have deteriorated into open diplomatic spats, with Israeli officials characterizing Canberra's "reward for terrorism" and "pouring fuel on the fire of antisemitism." In August 2025, Israel revoked the visas of Australian diplomats in the Palestinian territories in direct response to Australia's recognition of Palestine.

Beyond their inability to withstand analytical scrutiny, Chen's remarks are disturbing because they implicitly shift blame for an antisemitic Islamist terrorist attack from the perpetrators to Australia's foreign policy and Israel's behavior.

His claim that Australia "unilaterally favors Israel" and therefore "bears responsibility" reflects a familiar Chinese state-media narrative that frames Western alliances like AUKUS and values-based diplomacy as sources of instability, while downplaying extremist ideology and agency.

Taken seriously, this logic would justify blaming violence against ethnic Chinese abroad on China’s COVID policies or its repression of Muslim minorities; this argument is rightly seen as immoral and dangerous, yet one that is often tolerated when the targets are Jews.