China’s ominous three-word warning to Australia

China has issued Australia an ominous three-word warning amid rising tensions in the Pacific. The threat came just hours after a damning NATO summit.

China has issued an ominous three-word warning that Australia will “bear the consequences” of any military accident in disputed areas in the South China Sea.

It comes after a Royal Australian Air Force maritime surveillance aircraft was dangerously confronted by a Chinese military fighter aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea last month, just days after the Australian Federal Election.

Canada has also accused China of dangerous air intercepts.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defence, issued a stern warning to the countries, telling a press conference in Beijing “whenever they come, [the People’s Liberation Army] will counteract”, according to The Australian.

“Those who come uninvited shall bear the consequences,” he said.

China’s national defence ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Tan Kefei.

Colonel Tan took aim at Australia and Canada in his latest press conference. Picture: Supplied

“What is the duty of a soldier? That is to defend the homeland,” Colonel Tan said on Thursday evening, according to The Australian.

“No matter what the name or excuse is, it is completely unreasonable to send military planes to the door of others to provoke and jeopardise the national security of other countries. The armed forces of any country will not sit idly by, and the Chinese military is no exception.”

The South China Sea covers about 3.5 million square kilometres of water, broken only by a few reefs, sandbars and rocky islands.

About 33 per cent of the world’s international trade passes through its waters. Much of the region’s food is hauled from its depths, and Beijing claims all of it.

And it continues to do so despite the ruling of an international court of arbitration that its claims are baseless.

Chinese media blasts ‘ignorant’ Anthony Albanese after key NATO summit

In an opinion piece published this week, Beijing-backed publication China Daily said hopes for a reset in relations between Australia and China were “diminishing by the day”.

The publication claimed Mr Albanese had drawn parallels between the Ukraine war and China’s interest in the Pacific, particularly Taiwan, prompting swift backlash from the Communist Party.

“It is hard to believe that the new Australian leader can be so ill-informed as to not know China’s stance on the Ukraine crisis, which it has clarified on multiple occasions, or that he can be so ignorant as not to understand the status of Taiwan,” the China Daily column read.

“The take-away from his words then is that while he might talk of wanting to improve his country’s relations with China, he is either going to have to make dedicated efforts to better understand the issues that have led to bilateral ties deteriorating precipitously or be more diplomatically astute.”

The Communist Party also took aim at Australia’s opposition to China’s recent attempt at securing a security deal with the Solomon Islands, a pact that would reportedly allow military operations on Australia’s doorstep.

The comments came as NATO, for the first time in its guiding blueprint, said China’s power challenges the alliance and Beijing’s closer ties to Moscow went against Western interests.

“The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values,” NATO’s strategic concept published at a summit in Madrid said.

“It strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains.”

NATO, for the first time in its guiding blueprint, said China’s power challenges the alliance and Beijing’s closer ties to Moscow went against Western interests. Chinese president Xi Jinping pictured on Friday. (Photo by Selim CHTAYTI / POOL / AFP)

NATO accused China of targeting NATO members with its “malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric”.

Leading NATO power the United States has pushed for the alliance to pay greater attention to China, despite reluctance from some allies to switch attention away from its focus on Europe.

NATO’s guiding document -- updated for the first time since 2010 -- said Russia was the “most significant and direct threat to allies’ security” after its invasion of Ukraine.

And it said that increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing “run counter to our values and interests”.

In a sign of the increasing concerns about China, the leaders from regional partners Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand were attending a NATO summit for the first time.

“China is substantially building up its military forces, including nuclear weapons, bullying its neighbours and threatening Taiwan,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

“China is not our adversary. But we must be clear eyed about the serious challenges it represents.” Stoltenberg said “NATO will step up cooperation with our Indo-Pacific partners, including on cyber defence, new technologies, maritime security, climate change and countering disinformation”.

“These global challenges demand global solutions,” he said, adding: “We will also do more with our partners.” Ahead of the unveiling of NATO’s new strategy, Beijing already pushed back against the alliance for increasing its attention on Asia.

Great to meet Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau. I look forward to working together and sharing knowledge, skills and experiences on issues including climate action, social inclusion including for First Nations people and supporting peace and security in our region.🇦🇺🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/gzNBW3KnMV

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 30, 2022

China accuses New Zealand of ‘misguided’ accusations

China also accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday of making “wrong and thus regrettable” statements that were unhelpful for keeping the two countries’ relationship “on the right track”.

Ardern attended the NATO leaders’ summit in Spain this week, saying in a speech Wednesday that China had become “more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms”.

The Chinese embassy in Wellington hit back Friday that it had taken note of Ardern’s “misguided” accusations.

“That allegation is wrong and thus regrettable,” the embassy said in a statement posted on its website.

“It is obvious that such comment is not helpful for deepening mutual trust between the two countries, or for the efforts made by the two countries to keep our bilateral relations on the right track.”

China has accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of “wrong” statements. Picture: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP)

It is the second time in a month that China has taken issue with comments by Ardern.

In early June, the New Zealand leader and US President Joe Biden issued a joint statement expressing concern over the possibility of China establishing “a persistent military presence in the Pacific”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the two leaders at the time of trying to “deliberately hype up” China’s internal issues and said their statement “distorts and smears China’s normal co-operation with Pacific Island countries”.

China is New Zealand’s biggest trading partner and Wellington has previously sought not to antagonise Beijing.

Last year, it distanced itself from statements by its “Five-Eyes” intelligence partners – the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada – condemning Beijing’s crackdown on the democracy movement in Hong Kong and its treatment of its Uyghur Muslim population.

But in her address at the NATO summit, Ardern said that while Europe faced tensions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pacific was also experiencing “mounting pressure on the international rules-based order.”

Concerns were heightened in April when China signed a security pact with Solomon Islands, raising fears it could open the door to a Chinese military presence in the South Pacific.

The Chinese embassy maintained its goal in the South Pacific was to help island states develop and said Beijing “opposes attempts by a small number of countries to impose their own will and so-called values on others under the guise of multilateralism”.

– with AFP