Prime Minister Scott Morrison warns China he won’t ‘sell out’ Australia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a stark warning to Beijing, vowing he will never “sell out” Australia and our way of life.

Scott Morrison has warned China he will not “sell out” Australia or curb free speech after the emerging superpower lodged a formal complaint against a Liberal senator.

The war of words erupted after Liberal Senator James Paterson gave a speech to the European Parliament accusing China of foreign interference.

“His speech misled the European parliamentarians and the public, which once again reflects his bias and hostility against China,” the Chinese embassy said.

“We firmly oppose any speech and action from the parliamentarians to impede the normal exchanges between the people of our two countries and disrupt the relationship between China and Europe.”

But in response, the Prime Minister suggested that he didn’t plan to censure Senator Paterson.

“Well, I’m not going to sell out Australia’s free speech,’’ the Prime Minister said.

“It’s never going to happen. Australia is a free country where you can speak your mind, and under our government you can be very sure that will be retained and always stood up for in whatever forum is necessary.”

The already strained relationship between China and Australia has taken another blow.

Senator Paterson, who is the head of the parliamentary committee on intelligence and security, has previously warned that China’s foreign interference was the biggest danger to Australia’s way of life.

He also previously joined a group, including a group of MPs, that jokingly referred to themselves as “The Wolverines”, a reference to the 1984 flick Red Dawn where Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen stop a Soviet invasion of the United States.

“Well, I think the comment is very ironic, I think, because the whole point is Australia, as a liberal democracy, believes in free speech,’’ the Prime Minister said today.

“And none more so than in our Parliament, and for Australians who are elected to our Parliament to be able to speak very plainly about what they believe the issues are that are needed to secure Australia’s defence interests.

“And James Paterson does a tremendous job on that, and I will always stand up for Australia’s liberal democracy, and it’s been a big focus of my attention engaging with other leaders around the world who lead liberal democracies, particularly in the United States, in India and Japan through the Leaders’ Dialogue with the Quad.

“This is an important way of ensuring liberal democracies work together to ensure that we can have a free and open Indo Pacific.

“Our model for how we run our country is one that gives people their freedoms, and one of those most important freedoms is their freedom of speech.

“And, so, this is one of the issues that has been highlighted by the Chinese Embassy here in Australia about one of their issues with Australia, one of the reasons why they have expressed disappointment in Australia about the relationship.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has issued a harsh warning to China over free speech. Picture: AFP

Senator Patterson has been a relentless critic of China for years, calling out human rights abuses and foreign interference.

Last week, he attacked former prime minister Paul Keating for his “long-held sympathies towards China”.

“We should be equally frank about how misguided and dangerous they are,’’ Senator Paterson said. “Misguided because Keating’s assessment of Australia’s security outlook in the Indo-Pacific does not reflect the reality of the deteriorating strategic environment of the region.

“And dangerous because if we were to follow Keating’s advice it would be a recipe for a weaker Australia that is more isolated from our closest allies in an increasingly uncertain era.

“When a great power’s words and actions align, it’s wise to pay close attention to them. Xi Jinping has vowed to ‘reunify’ China with Taiwan as part of its ‘grand national rejuvenation’ by 2049, promising to do this by force if peaceful means fail.

“Given China’s increasingly frequent incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, in concert with its illegal militarisation of the South China Sea and its rapid expansion of its military capability, it is cavalier and irresponsible to not take them incredibly seriously.”

Mr Keating claimed in a speech to the National Press Club last week that Taiwan was “not a vital Australian interest” and that Australia should therefore not be drawn into military conflict over Taiwan.

“This is a morally vacuous position which casts aside the aspirations and desires of 24 million free people, whose self-determination would be wiped out in the event of a Chinese annexation of the island,’’ Senator Paterson said.

Originally published as Prime Minister Scott Morrison warns China he won’t ‘sell out’ Australia