The People’s Republic of China is an unpleasant dictatorship – with scant regard for democracy in Australia, it appears.

Last year, then-Victorian state MP Victor Perton attempted to host a meeting with vice-president of the European Parliament Edward McMillan-Scott and former Canadian minister David Kilgour promoting their report that found the Chinese government has executed thousands of Falun Gong dissidents and harvested their organs.

A day later the Chinese Consul-General wrote to all lower house MPs – except Perton – criticising the meeting and belittling the McMillan-Scott/Kilgour report.

While the matter was not pursued, the Consul’s actions were in contempt of parliament.- an attempt to interfere with an MP exercising their duties.

Now, the People’s Republic of China is repeating the offence, in NSW.

The Chinese government has lodged an official objection to a function being hosted on Macquarie Street by MLC Gordon Moyes on Wednesday night, ahead of the arrival of President Hu Jintao in Sydney for APEC.

The function will be addressed by Chinese pro-democracy leader and former political prisoner Wang Juntao.

Officials from the Chinese consulate in Sydney have visited Legislative Council President Peter Primrose on Monday in an attempt to have the meeting cancelled.

Primrose, to his credit, seems to be taking a stronger public stand than Victorian parliamentary officials.

“I can confirm Chinese Embassy officials approached the Parliament to protest at the holding of a function on human rights in China,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“I indicated it was part of the normal functions in Parliament and the only reason it would be cancelled was for security concerns, of which there were none.”