Talk of China war ‘a political strategy’, says Penny Wong
Penny Wong has accused the PM of ‘deliberately encouraging anxiety about conflict’ with China to secure domestic political advantage.
Penny Wong has accused Scott Morrison of failing to understand the Australia-China relationship and “deliberately encouraging anxiety about conflict” with the Asian superpower to secure domestic political advantage.
In a prepared speech to launch a new book on China on Wednesday by journalist Peter Hartcher, she argues Australia is “sprinting ahead” of the US policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan.
Senator Wong will say Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s recent warning that war with China over Taiwan could not be discounted and Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo’s claim that “the drums of war” were beating are part of a wider government strategy.
“It would take childlike naivety to think these interventions were a coincidence, or to think the Morrison government isn’t deliberately encouraging anxiety about conflict,” she will say. “But it would represent a monumental and catastrophic failure of leadership to see that anxiety realised.
“My concern is that not only does (the Prime Minister) not fully comprehend Australia’s interests in relation to China, he doesn’t even seek to.”
Amid growing concern in the business community over the Australia-China relationship, Senator Wong will accuse Mr Morrison of putting “political opportunism” ahead of Australia’s national interests. “Australians don’t want their leaders to bow to coercion, but neither do they expect their leaders to recklessly beat the drums of war.”
She will criticise Mr Morrison’s error in describing Australia’s position on Taiwan as “One Country, Two Systems” — a reference to China’s governance of Hong Kong — and note his pledge ahead of the Wentworth by-election to shift Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
She will also reference his 2019 “negative globalism” attack on multilateral institutions, and his decision not to call out Donald Trump over the Capitol riots.
“Foreign policy should not be the prosecution of domestic politics by other means because as I’ve said, in diplomacy, words matter,” Senator Wong will say.
Her criticism comes as a new China Matters think tank paper says key laws targeting Chinese interference in Australian institutions “have had demonstrable negative impacts on Australia-PRC relations”.
The paper says the Espionage and Foreign Interference Act (2018), the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act (2018), and the Foreign Relations Act (2020) that allowed the government to axe Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative agreements target connections with foreigners rather than improper conduct.
“These three laws are flawed,” the paper says.
“They are too widely cast, subjecting large new areas of activity to national security scrutiny, and poorly focused, scrutinising links and connections rather than improper conduct.”
The government has stepped up warnings in recent months over the prospect of a conflict with China, after last year’s Defence Strategic Update identified US-China tensions as the nation’s biggest strategic threat.
Mr Morrison recently said Australia wanted a peaceful relationship with China where trade between the two countries could again flourish.
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