China calls Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo ‘irresponsible’, a ‘troublemaker’ over recent comments

Beijing lashes the Home Affairs Secretary for hyping ‘the threat of war’, in their first official response to his ‘drums of war’ comments.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Picture: Getty Images

Beijing has lashed Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo’s ANZAC message, calling the senior Australian bureaucrat a “troublemaker” who was hyping up “the threat of war”.

In a message to Home Affairs staff — published in The Australian on Monday — Secretary Pezzullo warned “the drums of war are beating” and said Australia might have to “send off … our warriors to fight”.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday evening said Pezzullo’s comments were “extremely irresponsible and will find no audience”.

“Some individual politicians in Australia, out of their selfish interests, are keen to make statements that incite confrontation and hype up the threat of war,” said Mr Zhao.

“These people are the real troublemakers.”

Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The comments come after a week in which the Morrison government has demonstrated it is no hurry to repair the strained relationship with Australia’s biggest trading partner.

Last week, Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the federal government was annulling Victoria’s co-operation agreement with China’s Belt and Road infrastructure-led foreign policy, saying it was not in the national interest.

Over the weekend, Defence minister Peter Dutton warned a war could not be ruled out between China and Taiwan.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a $747m upgrade to four Defence training facilities in the Northern Territory and said Australia would work with the US to exert a positive influence on regional security.

“Our objective here is to ensure a peaceful region but one (where), at the same time, Australia is in a position to always protect its interests, always advance our national interests, always support a global world order that favours freedom,” Mr Morrison said.

Some senior military officials in Beijing have mocked Australia’s capacity to influence the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

In Beijing’s first official response to Secretary Pezzullo’s comments, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman on Wednesday said he had noticed that many people in Australia had “expressed disapproval on social media, saying that such inflammatory language is outrageous and extremely crazy”.

Mr Zhao – who last year gained infamy by suggesting the coronavirus had been spread by the US Army – said China was “a promoter of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of international order”.

“China’s development means opportunities for the world,” Mr Zhao said at a daily press conference in Beijing

“As a country long benefited from co-operation with China, Australia is being untruthful and immoral with its false allegation of ‘China threat theory’. This will only end up hurting its own interests,” he said.

“We urge certain individuals in Australia to shake off the Cold War mentality, stop making irresponsible remarks and act in ways that are conducive to regional peace and stability rather than the opposite.”