‘Worst yet to come’: China’s new dark warning to Australia

A stern editorial from a Chinese news outlet has said “the worst is yet to come” in China-Australian relations after a controversial act from a former PM.

China has darkly warned that the “worst is probably yet to come” in Sino-Australian relations.

That’s despite the deep freeze already in place between the two nations. For instance, China’s top brass haven’t answered calls from Australian ministers for years.

Beijing’s latest barb directed Canberra’s way follows Tony Abbott’s trip to Taiwan where he urged the nation not to kowtow to China.

The former prime minister’s visit comes as China sends ever more waves of military jets in sorties towards Taiwan’s airspace.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened to invade the country of 24 million. But the democratic nation has never been ruled by Communist Beijing and its citizens have shown no desire to do so now.

In order not to antagonise the People’s Republic, most countries maintain only low-profile ties with Taiwan and serving senior politicians rarely visit.

However, former politicians are a different matter. While Beijing gets just as riled, overseas governments can distance themselves from the trips.

During his visit, which included meeting Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, Mr Abbott said “Nothing is more pressing right now than solidarity with Taiwan.”

Tony Abbott with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei last Thursday,

Abbott to Taiwan: ‘Get ready to fight’

In an edited version of his speech given in the capital Taipei and published in The Australian, Mr Abbott urged the Taiwanese to “get ready to fight” and accused China of “intimidation” against Taiwan.

He said an invasion of Taiwan by Beijing would see “the subjection of a free people to a tyranny that brooks no opposition, no independent thought, just ever more complete subservience to the Red Emperor, monitored and enforced by 24/7 electronic surveillance”.

Mr Abbott said he expected Chinese ships to soon push the limits of Taiwan’s territorial waters.

“That’s why it will be important for Taiwan’s friends – the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and the Europeans – regularly and in force to keep patrolling the Taiwan Straits to remind Beijing these are international waters that it does not own.”

He said Taiwan needed to become an “eastern Israel” – a nation small but powerful enough to see off military threats.

China has sent anti-submarine aircraft, fighter jets and warships to the southwest and southeast of Taiwan. Picture: Xinhua

Australia ‘warmongering’

Predictably, this advice has not gone down well in Beijing.

In an editorial, the government-controlled China Dailynewspaper called Mr Abbott’s visit a “provocation”.

“His smearing of the mainland not only shows the outdated mindset that prevails in Australia, it also risks dragging Australia deeper into the mess of its own making.

“Such confusing of right with wrong has been common for biased Western politicians when referring to issues concerning China”.

The paper said Australia was “warmongering” which was a threat to regional security but the Taiwanese were “deceiving themselves” if they believed Western nations would defend them.

The US is the main military supplier to Taiwan and has reaffirmed its “rock solid” commitment to the island. But it does not guarantee it will defend Taiwan should China launch full-scale military action.

The China Daily piece argued that Mr Abbott’s urging that the Taiwanese be prepared to fight was in fact an admission that Australia wouldn’t do the same.

“The message is obvious: Rather than counting on support from the US and its allies, the Taiwan separatists will have to fend for themselves.

“Hence, Abbott’s speech should, in fact, serve as a wake-up call for those in Taiwan who still indulge in the daydream that colluding with outside forces will enable them to split Taiwan from the motherland.”

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter carries a Taiwan flag during national day celebrations in Taipei on the weekend. Picture: Sam Yeh/AFP

‘Worst is probably yet to come’

The editorial then squarely criticised Canberra, accusing it of souring relations with China rather than vice versa.

“From forging a new security alliance with the US and the UK targeting China to Abbott’s meddling in the Taiwan question, Australia, a country that relies heavily on trade with China, has persistently prodded the most sensitive nerve of its biggest trading partner.

“With politicians in Canberra continuing to act and sound increasingly hostile toward China, the worst is probably yet to come,” the editorial said.

“But Canberra should bear in mind that it is cutting off its nose to spite its face, as meddling in the Taiwan question is a dead end. Beijing has both the determination and capability to shore up the irreversible trend of national reunification.”

The China Daily missive follows criticism from another government-influenced Chinese paper.

An opinion piece in Communist Party mouthpiece The Global Times accused Australia of being “evil”.

“To put it bluntly, Abbott actually asked Taiwan to ‘stand up and die’ for Western interests and to act as cannon fodder on a war that the island is destined to lose in order to win praise from the West,” wrote Hu Xijin.

“Unification of China is a consistent and justified agenda since modern times.

“Those who vilify it are definitely the evil forces of anti-history and anti-humanity.”

Hu then doubled down on his Abbott anger.

“Abbott is so vicious. I just do not know if the people of Taiwan who listened to his speech are stupid enough to get blood boiled by his words.

“I think rational Taiwan people would tell him: It is better for you Australians prepare to fight. Australia can deploy most of its warships around the Chinese mainland and give young Australian soldiers ‘a worthy death defending democracy’.”