We will not bow, Peter Dutton warns China

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia must stand up to China or face the loss of national sovereignty as a ‘tributary state’.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton: ‘Does the Chinese government wish to occupy other countries? Not in my judgment. But they do see us as tributary states.’ Picture: Gary Ramage

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia must stand up to China or face the loss of national sovereignty as a “tributary state”, warning that if Beijing took Taiwan it would swiftly become the region’s dominant power.

Mr Dutton said China’s territorial ambitions would not be satisfied by Taiwan’s fall, with Japan’s Senkaku Islands its next target as it sought to transform the regional order in a direct threat to Australia’s security and prosperity.

Against the backdrop of Australia’s new AUKUS partnership with the US and the UK, he said the nation needed to boost its military capabilities and stand with its allies to resist Beijing’s “aggressive behaviour”.

“In the absence of a counter pressure, the Chinese government becomes the sole security and economic partner for Indo-Pacific nations,” Mr Dutton told the National Press Club.

“That is a perilous military and economic situation for our country and many others.

“Does the Chinese government wish to occupy other countries? Not in my judgment. But they do see us as tributary states.

“And that surrender of sovereignty and abandonment of any adherence to the international rule of law is what our country has fought against since federation.”

The Chinese embassy warned that Mr Dutton had “continued preaching his quixotic misunderstanding of China’s foreign ­policy” and was “misguiding the Australian people on regional ­situations and priorities, and ­fanning conflict and division ­between peoples and nations”.

“It is inconceivable that (the) China-Australia relationship will take on a good momentum or the overall interest of regional countries, including that of Australia, will be better promoted if the Australian government bases its national strategy on such visionless analysis and outdated mentality,” the embassy said.

Setting the scene for a national security election, Mr Dutton used his address to accuse Labor of ­“appeasement”, and said its “weak security policies” had opened the door to 50,000 asylum-seekers.

Mr Dutton warned that every major Australian city, even Hobart, was within range of Chinese missiles, and China’s navy was now the largest in the world.

He said Australia’s position was clear: “conflict must be avoided’’. But the nation faced the most significant change in its strategic environment since World War II.

“The world would be foolish to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s,” he said.

“We live in times of high tension but the region is not on an ­inevitable path to conflict. But only if all countries of goodwill ­ensure together we do our utmost to steer clear of the cliff face.”

Acquiescence or appeasement was “a tactic that is a cul-de-sac of strategic misfortune or worse”.

He said there would be a “terrible price” if war broke out, but warned “the analysis must also extend to the price of inaction”.

“If Taiwan is taken, surely the Senkakus are next,” Mr Dutton said. “The point I make is the regional order on which our prosperity and security is founded would change very quickly.”

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong this week accused Mr Dutton of “amping up” the threat of war “in the most dangerous election tactic in Australian history”.

Senator Wong levelled the charge after Mr Dutton told The Weekend Australian it would be inconceivable that Australia would not join the US in a war against China over Taiwan.

Mr Dutton told the National Press Club it was essential to be honest about China’s “aggressive” behaviour, not “ring-fence them from difficult issues or insult their intelligence, as Paul Keating did here a few weeks ago”.

“Any wise government knows you can’t base national security policy on wishful thinking,” he said. “It must be based on objective facts, and an honest appraisal of the circumstances.”

His speech came as Defence released new images of a Chinese spy ship operating off Australia’s east coast, within the nation’s exclusive economic zone, in August.

Scott Morrison said the ship’s presence, for about three weeks, highlighted the “very serious situation in the Indo-Pacific”.

“You need strength to take Australia through a time like this,” the Prime Minister said.

“There is never a time for weakness when it comes to leading a federal government, particularly at a time when you are dealing with these very significant security issues and the economic challenges that we have.”

Mr Dutton said the ADF was “highly effective, deployable and integrated”, but its capabilities were inadequate in themselves to deter an attack on Australia and its interests in the current security environment. He said Australia needed allies such as the US, the UK, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.

“Alone, our defence force cannot compete head on with the military force of a major power,” he said. “But it must mean that we complement our defence capabilities with strong relationships of substance. And if we’re a weak and unreliable and untrustworthy friend, then we won’t expect the support of those countries and, in particular the United States, into the future.”

Mr Dutton said the ADF needed new weapons to hold adversaries at bay over longer distances, and declared the rearming of the nation was “a mission of utmost national significance and urgency”. He said the government would no longer tolerate a ­business-as-usual attitude from Defence and its industry partners. There would be less tolerance of project delays, and the government would “cut our ­losses” by cancelling under­performing programs. However, he said the government would stick with its $45bn Future Frigates program, to be delivered by Britain’s BAE Systems, which was two years late and suffering serious design problems. He said he had told BAE “we are not tolerating blowouts and I want that capability achieved as quickly as possible”.

He said the frigate program was unlike the French Attack-class submarines, which were cancelled two months ago in favour of nuclear boats under the AUKUS pact, because the planned diesel-electric subs would not have delivered the necessary capability and would have put Australians “in harm’s way”.

Mr Dutton also recommitted to the purchase of $30bn worth of infantry fighting vehicles.

Opposition defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor said Mr Dutton’s “war rhetoric” was heightening the risk of conflict.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Mr Dutton this week of having a “Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices”.