China’s fear of Peter Dutton is why Qld MP should be next PM

Forget all the internal politics likely to play out ahead of the upcoming federal election, it’s a growing international problem that means Queensland MP Peter Dutton should be the next prime minister, writes Peter Gleeson.

It’s interesting the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda arm, the Global Times, this week singled out Defence Minister Peter Dutton for his anti-China rhetoric.

Dutton let rip in parliament about the threat China poses in the Asia-Pacific, comparing the Coalition’s hardline stance to what Australia would get under a flaccid Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party.

The Global Times jumped onto Dutton, describing him as “despicable and contemptible’’, a man who is “badmouthing’’ China so he can become Australia’s next prime minister.

It said Dutton was fabricating the China threat theory, putting his own political gain before Australia-China relations, by deceiving Australians.

Peter Dutton during Question Time in the House of Representatives last week. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

It was a vintage attack, playing the man not the ball, a tactic the Chinese deploy when a country or person gets under their skin. Just as they cheered on Joe Biden to beat Donald Trump, the Chinese are in the red corner when we go to the polls in May.

They know Dutton and a Liberal-National government understands what game they are playing, especially their military build-up in the South China Sea and South Pacific.

But Dutton’s strong rhetoric demonstrates a much wider malaise. It is clear China says and does what it wants. It lies, obfuscates and bullies. It is not a reputable, reliable or open actor on the international stage.

Over summer, I read Sharri Markson’s tremendous book, What Really Happened in Wuhan, as she investigated the true origin of the coronavirus pandemic. It is abundantly clear, from the interviews on and off the record obtained by Markson with senior political and medical figures, that Covid-19 emerged from a Wuhan laboratory, not a wet market.

Whether the virus escape was an accident or intentional is not established. However, what is clear, beyond any doubt, is the Chinese government responded so slowly to the outbreak that it created worldwide carnage. Worse, either to save face or simply out of arrogance, the CCP attempted to divert attention away from its incompetence by blaming everybody except themselves.

China’s ill-fated trade sanctions against Australia when we called for a full and open inquiry into what caused the pandemic is proof of their insecurity and contempt for protocols.

China has been buying off South Pacific countries for decades so one day it can use them in a much more aggressive and threatening way.

It’s megalomania not seen in 80 years. The Global Times keeps a real eye on Aussie politics. It clearly senses Peter Dutton is a danger to China.

On that basis alone, he should be our next PM.

Originally published as China’s fear of Peter Dutton is why Qld MP should be next PM