Chinese defence minister General Wei Fenghe's attempt to justify China's repression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing in June, 1989, on Sunday, is a reminder the regime responsible for the deaths of up to 2,600 of its own citizens is still in charge.
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While Wei was right in saying much has changed in 30 years, his assertion the emergence of a modern and prosperous China sanctioned what happened in and around Tiananmen Square doesn't hold water.
The more than one million Chinese workers and students who took part in protests, marches, hunger strikes and the occupation of the square from April through to June 4 were seeking democratic reforms, civil rights and an end to state corruption which were, in no way, incompatible with modernisation or growth.
The repression that followed had nothing to do with growing the economy. It was all about perpetuating the rule of the Communist oligarchs under Deng Xiaoping.
Wei's claim the protests were "political turmoil that the central government needed to quell, which was the correct policy" seems a thinly veiled warning aimed at China's current dissidents and reformers.
The most remarkable aspect of Wei's comments, given the herculean effort the Chinese government has made to air brush the protests and the brutal way in which they were put down out of the nation's official history, is that they were made at all.
Australia can do much to keep the lines of communications between the two super powers open.
Some see this is a sign of Beijing's awareness of its growing strength relative to the west and a realisation it can now push back against criticisms of its human rights record. This, in turn, risks hubristic overreach in which tough talk aimed at domestic reformers could damage core relationships abroad.
China's ongoing indifference towards human rights is one of the principal factors that sets it apart from western democracies.
It also goes some of the way to explaining why, when discussing the US and China earlier this month, Scott Morrison referred to the former as a "friend" and the latter as a "customer".
While he was wrong on both counts given the universally acknowledged truth of Henry Kissinger's adage, itself borrowed from Lord Palmerston, that a nation "has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests", our values will be predominantly be more closely aligned to Washington than Beijing.
We have, as a result and through no fault of our own, found ourselves in a difficult and complex situation.
Our special relationships with the US and China, the one built on a history of amity that dates back to the visit of Theodore Roosevelt's "great white fleet" to Sydney in 1908, and the other built on mutually advantageous trade that has been accelerating since the 1970s, are an asset to the global community.
Australia can do much to keep the lines of communications between the two super powers open.
That said, it is imperative we remain true to ourselves, and our core values, while doing so.
Bob Hawke showed us the way 30 years ago when, in the wake of the massacres, we were the first country to condemn what had been done and granted permanent visas to more than 42,000 Chinese.
While it is true national interests and commercial relationships do count for much they should never be used as arguments to act against our own core values.
Given the spontaneous and courageous example Australia set in 1989 let's hope that our government does not let Wei's remarkable statements pass by without comment.
