Prioritising national security

Beyond the health and economic crises caused by COVID-19, the pandemic has underlined the deteriorating strategic situation Australia faces as China seeks to assert greater influence in the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean region. The chasm between China and the free world is widening, evidenced this week by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backing Scott Morrison’s push for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. After 3.3 million known cases of coronavirus causing 230,000 deaths, who, as Mr Pompeo asked, would not want an investigation of how the calamity arose? Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye answered that question this week when he threatened a Chinese boycott of Australian wine, beef and education in response to Australia’s call. That intransigence has undermined China’s standing in the community of nations. Washington’s allies, as Mr Pompeo urged, should back the Prime Minister’s call. Mr Morrison’s proposal is not about apportioning blame to China. It is about avoiding a repeat of such a calamity.

China’s militarisation and bullying are front and centre of the issues facing Australia’s new ambassador to Washington, Arthur Sinodinos, as Cameron Stewart writes from Washington. Australia, Mr Sinodinos says, must increasingly join with the US to push back against overreach by China on issues of common interest, such as cyber activity and interference.

Nobody should be surprised by the revelation that Long Zhou, the Chinese official Andrew Forrest helped to gatecrash Health Minister Greg Hunt’s press conference this week, was a former cyber official for Beijing. The dangers of the Chinese Communist Party’s hacking war against the West need to be better understood. If they were, businessmen such as Kerry Stokes, chairman of Seven West Media, would not be urging the Morrison government to overturn its ban on Chinese telco Huawei participating in Australia’s 5G network. Business interests and the national interest do not necessarily coalesce, which is why business must not dictate foreign policy. Supporting an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus, Malcolm Turnbull spoke from experience when he said that in disputes between Australia and the Chinese government, “you can never expect any support and solidarity from the Australian business community”.

Amid heightened diplomatic tensions, a gradual diversification of Australia’s exports would be sensible policy, as John Lee, academic and former adviser to Julie Bishop when she was foreign minister, writes in Inquirer on Saturday. And on the front of that section, Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, argues how and why Australia must improve national security. As he acknowledges, the government needs to do so within the constraints of the debts incurred during the pandemic, which could take a generation to repay.

Mr Jennings proposes worthwhile options that warrant consideration by both sides of politics. These include the appointment of a national security adviser, increasing Australia’s defence capabilities and cutting university research links that enhance People’s Liberation Army capabilities. Beyond defence, he canvasses walking back ownership by the People’s Republic of China of critical infrastructure such as the electricity grid, IT assets, farmland, ports and medical facilities. Shortages of medical equipment during the crisis, he points out, have highlighted the risks of just-in-time delivery of materials critical to national security.

Such measures, especially increased defence investment, would come at a price. But in an increasingly hostile strategic environment, national security will be increasingly important as Australia emerges from COVID-19.