Australians should be warned China will not hesitate to use trade as a punishment for getting offside with Beijing, former security and diplomatic chief Dennis Richardson said on the eve of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s six-day visit to the country.

Albanese finds himself walking a narrowing path between a China intent on building up its military and using its economic clout to reshape the global order, and a United States under President Donald Trump that is alienating allies by wielding tariffs as a weapon.