Japan, Australia ‘hyping up so-called China threat’

The Foreign Ministry says Japan and Australia are hyping up the ‘so-called China threat’ and ‘wantonly meddling in China’s domestic affairs’.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. Picture: AFP

Beijing has bristled at Australia and Japan’s joint pushback on Chinese aggression ahead of a G7-plus meeting in the UK that has put Xi Jinping’s administration in the spotlight.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin delivered the first official response to Tokyo and Canberra’s shared concerns over Beijing’s aggressive incursions in the East China Sea, militarisation of the South China Sea and economic coercion on Australia.

“Japan and Australia are hyping up the so-called ‘China threat’ theory, maliciously slandering and attacking China and wantonly meddling in China’s domestic affairs,” spokesman Wang said at a Wednesday evening briefing in Beijing.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton met their Japanese counterparts Motegi Toshimitsu and Kishi Nobuo on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

“We urge Japan and Australia to abide by international law and basic norms of international relations including respect for other countries’ sovereignty and noninterference, stop meddling in China’s internal affairs and stop undermining regional peace and stability.”

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton met their Japanese counterparts Motegi Toshimitsu and Kishi Nobuo on Tuesday. Their joint statement underscored the deep alignment between the two US allies as they deal with China.

It came less than a fortnight after a meeting between prime ministers Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, which also stressed their shared concerns with Xi’s prickly regime.

Later this week, Morrison will attend a G7-plus meeting in Cornwall at which he will support US President Joe Biden’s efforts to get liberal-democracies to better co-ordinate their approaches to China.

“Our challenge is nothing less than to reinforce, renovate and buttress a world order that favours freedom,” Morrison said in a keynote speech before flying to the UK via Singapore.

“Meeting this challenge will require an active co-operation among like-minded countries and liberal democracies not seen for 30 years,” he said.

He said Australia must be prepared to “call trade issues out”.

“You’ve got to call trade issues out if you believe in an open trading system,” he told 6PR.

Mr Morrison said Australia needed to stand up for a “rules based order.”

PM happy to speak to China any time

On the question of China, Mr Morrison said Australia was “very happy to speak” with Beijing “on any occasion.” “Those opportunities are provided to China,” he said.

“At this point they’re choosing not to take those up. As I said yesterday, we’re keen to work with countries all around the world, particularly in our own region for a free and open Indo Pacific.”

Responding at the same Beijing press conference, Wang was relatively restrained when asked about Morrison’s call for greater co-operation among “like-minded countries”.

“G7 and relevant developed countries are the first to reap the benefit from global development, and should thus do more to advance international anti-epidemic co-operation, promote world economic recovery and help developing countries achieved faster growth, instead of stoking differences and disputes in the international community and disrupting global recovery and solidarity against the coronavirus,” he said, not naming Australia directly.

This week’s in-person meeting in Cornwall will be the biggest test since his inauguration of President Biden’s efforts to put allies and partners at the centre of America’s foreign policy.

The China-heavy agenda at the meeting threatens to dampen celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th year anniversary on July 1, less than three weeks away.

Speaking before the high level summit, Biden’s top Asia official Kurt Campbell said China only had itself to blame for the global backlash against its policies.

“Over the last year or two the country that has done the most to create problems for China is not the United States but China,” said Dr Campbell, the U.S. co-ordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the National Security Council.