Erin Molan: Australia can ill afford to overlook the threat of China
Just because we have enjoyed decades of peace and are isolated from the rest of the world doesn’t mean we can ignore the threatening posturing of China, writes Erin Molan.
Opinion
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There’s nothing like 80 years of peace to lull a nation into bathing in the bliss of complacency.
You can’t really blame us, can you? It’s hard to fear something you’ve never seen or experienced first hand? Or is it?
I’m terrified of plenty of things that I’ve never encountered or experienced. Shark attacks for one. So why is war different?
Why does this country seem to have this mentality that we are so far removed from the rest of the world that something like what’s happening in Ukraine could never happen to us?
We might be the ‘lucky country’ but we sure as hell aren’t special.
We have no ‘god given’ right to live peacefully for another 80 years. It’d be nice but it’s completely unrealistic.
Anyone who isn’t acutely aware of the threat right now is either living in complete ignorant bliss or kidding themselves.
China’s ambassador spoke this week at the Press Club and it’s worth watching the entire address. It should terrify us all … and that’s not fear mongering. I wish it were. I really do.
There is nothing that the Chinese government — or their servants — ever do that isn’t planned or calculated. The language used and the very carefully crafted responses send a message that is loud and clear.
Now China doesn’t always keep its word, regardless of how much they like to push that narrative, but that doesn’t mean we should be taking any of this rhetoric lightly.
What isn’t open to interpretation is the intent of the Chinese Communist Party and the powerful forces they’ve spent years, slowly, sometimes quietly, building up.
I make the point, just like John Howard did during the election campaign, that this country is so blessed to have such a significant population of Chinese Australians who have made such wonderful contributions to this nation over many years.
Nearly one and a half million call Australia home and I suspect the majority would be equally concerned with what the CCP is doing.
There are plenty of experts who believe that Taiwan isn’t the main target and that China is more likely to attack bigger (read the West) and do it quickly.
One of those who believe this is the case is my dad, Senator Jim Molan.
Elbridge Colby, the man who led the development of America’s National Defence Strategy, agrees. The world has dropped the ball when it comes to this super power and there are fears we’ve left it too late to stop what might be inevitable.
Shout out to the ABC’s Media Watch, who did a piece recently on dad, and the fact that he’d mentioned a few times that he’d written a book on this very issue — whilst discussing the issue — on shows that focus predominantly on these kinds of issues. Who would have thought?
They showed a couple of clips of him on my show Erin on Sky News talking about it. They said it really is a ‘family affair’ in some kind of insinuation that there’s something dodgy going on, a little bit of nepotism maybe?
In response — which they didn’t seek at all by the way — I’d make the following points:
1. It’s my show.
2. Having dad on regularly is incredibly special and something I will do at every opportunity.
3. Dad retired as a Major-General, was Chief Of Operations in Iraq for the coalition forces for a year and is one of the most experienced Australian military officers when it comes to wars.
4. He is an expert in national security, one of Australia’s most respected voices in this field.
5. There is no bigger story in the country right now than the threat of China — and if I want to talk to someone about that I’m going to go to the best and if that’s my dad, even better.
6. The profits of dad’s book are all going to charity, every single cent, so there’s no personal benefit whatsoever to dad (or I) talking about a massive issue and a book that’s just been released on said issue. He has always served this nation and it continues to be the number one motivating factor in everything he does.
Thank you, though, for the interest — and for helping spread the word.
So what can we do to deter war in our region?
As Elbridge Colby said to me, it’s really as simple as watching Top Gun … the original of course. The basis of the whole movie is preparation and training. Building up strength for the moments when it will be most required.
We can no longer rely on the US, who are sticking with ‘strategic ambiguity’ when it comes to Taiwan rather than ‘strategic clarity’.
No show of strength from Biden’s administration — pulling out of Afghanistan, a fairly weak response to the war in Ukraine, a leader who is clearly unwell and not at the top of his game. It’s sad but it’s more worrying.
The Albanese government needs a plan and it needs one quickly.
China is singling us out more and more often and, while it could be perceived as flattering, given we rank around 55th in the world (population), I fear it’s the kind of attention we are much better off without.
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