Australia’s Defence Minister Says “China’s Actions Contradict its Peaceful Rhetoric”

Australia -On Friday, Australia’s Defense Minister Peter Dutton said “China’s aggressive actions contradict its speech on harmony and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region.”

Dutton has announced that China considers different nations in the district to be “feeder states” and is cautioning that Beijing would rapidly overwhelm Asia if it succeeds in capturing Taiwan. 

Moreover, if China regains control over Taiwan, it would rapidly hold onto other disputed regions, including the Senkaku Islands, which both China and Japan claim, he added. 

He also noted China’s militarization of the South China Sea, the recent flying of bomber aircraft over Taiwan, and announcing the new national security law in Hong Kong as examples of China’s actions that don’t correlate with their speech.

Moreover, recently, a Chinese navy vessel was also tracked cruising through the Australian exclusive economic zone.

“We are acquainted with the frequent claims of the Chinese regime that it is committed to promoting harmony, development and cooperation,” Dutton stated. 

In reply, the Chinese consulate in Canberra stated that Dutton had contorted China’s foreign policy, misdirected the Australian public and was “fanning conflict and division among peoples and countries”. 

Relations between Australia and its most significant trade market became worse in 2020 when Canberra maneuvered a United Nations investigation over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, which was first reported in Wuhan, China. 

China had reacted by removing ministerial contacts and forcing heavy levies on Australian grain, wine, coal, beef, and fish, viably canceling a 2015 international free trade alliance. Australia and the United States named the move “economic coercion”. 

In September, a new security agreement between Australia, the United States, and Britain, called AUKUS, was broadly considered an endeavor to support territorial military muscle in front of China’s developing aggression. China considers AUKUS a threat to global harmony.