Peter Dutton warns Australia of ’dire’ China situation, fears of chemical attack on ally

The defence Minister has doubled down on his views on China, claiming the situation is as ‘dire’ as it was in the lead up to the Second World War.

Australia’s Defence Minister has doubled down on concerns China is a growing threat, claiming the nation could mount a chemical attack in the next four years.

Peter Dutton made the extraordinary admission during a wide-ranging interview with News Corp Australia. He claimed his fears over China’s military strength and strategic position were echoed by defence chiefs across the country.

“I think the circumstances are as dire as they were in the 1930s. I’m happy to present the facts … and then people can draw their own conclusions,” he said.

Vessels from Iran, Russia and China during military drills in 2021. Picture: Supplied.

“We want a normalised peaceful relationship with every country, including China. But China has changed. And it’s going to take money to respond to that both in terms of additional personnel as well as investment in technologies and equipment.”

He added, Australia needed to maintain both its military and naval capacity to “be prepared for what a year ago would have been inconceivable”.

“It’s conceivable that there could be a chemical warfare attack on a capital city of one of our allies and so could you be drawn back into a conflict in the Middle East,” he said.

Mr Dutton said he wants a peaceful relationship with China. Picture: Supplied.

However tensions have grown over the past few years. Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Tensions between China and the West have risen in recent times.

China’s militarisation of South-East Asia has been closely watched by Australian and US Defence departments. China’s Communist Party has developed infrastructure on coral reefs across the region – with fears these could be turned into military bases – and inked new military contracts with the Solomon Islands.

Just last week, China’s President Xi Jinping delivered several cryptic messages in a rare speech on Thursday where he proposed a new “global security initiative”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia via video link

Xi spent much of his speech urging the world to work together against the Covid-19 pandemic, despite Beijing being criticised for being notoriously secretive.

Despite the pleas for peace, there were other contradictions. He never mentioned another country by name but there were obvious comparisons to the US, Ukraine and Russia.

“Right now, changes of the world, of our times, of our history, are unfolding in ways like never before,” he said.

“These changes are posing challenges that must be taken seriously by humanity.

“We have yet to walk from the shadow of a once-in-a-century pandemic but new traditional security rules are already emerging.