We’re no threat: China

Beijing takes aims at Australia’s ‘cold war mentality’

Beijing has taken aim at the Albanese government’s inaugural national defence strategy, urging Canberra to drop its “Cold War mentality” and denying that China poses any risk to regional stability.

Defence Minister Richard Marles unveiled the strategy on Wednesday, announcing Australia would bolster its navy to compete with an increasingly aggressive and coercive China in pursuit of its “strategic objectives”.

He said China’s military build-up and tensions with the US had created an environment “where the risk of miscalculation is more ominous and the consequences more severe”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian in response said China posed “no threat” to the region, pointing instead at “major countries outside the region”.

“We stay committed to the peace and stability of the AsiaPacific region and the wider world, and pose no threat to any country,” he said.

Mr Lin said the formation of “exclusive groupings” had stoked “bloc confrontation” and muddied the waters in the South China Sea.

“As if the world needed any more instability. China firmly opposes it,” he said. “We hope Australia will correctly view China’s development and strategic intentions, abandon the Cold War mentality, do more things to keep the region peaceful and stable, and stop buzzing about China.”

Mr Marles on Thursday doubled down on his comments, saying the national strategy had been underpinned by the “very complex set of strategic circumstances”.

“We are seeing a very significant military build-up in the region. China is engaging in the biggest conventional military build-up since the end of the Second World War. That is just a fact,” he said.

“And it does change the strategic landscape. It’s not just ourselves, but it’s all countries of the region and in fact, the world. We need to be making sure that we are the most capable nation that we can be, that we can resist coercion.”

The Coalition’s home affairs spokesman, James Paterson, said he wished the grounds for the Chinese government to be angry were “stronger than they actually are”, hitting out at the Albanese government’s decision to slash programs.

During his speech to the

National Press Club on Wednesday, Mr Marles confirmed the defence budget would grow by $50bn over the next decade, but just 10 per cent of that would be accessed in the next four years.

The government says it will claw back $72bn from dumped weapons programs to pay for more submarines, ships, missiles and drones. Mr Marles said the reality was the nation’s defence hinged on collective regional stability.

“As a medium power, we are never going to bring to bear the kind of military capability that exists in the United States or China,” he said.