‘Immature’ Australia told to butt out

CHINESE media has called “immature” Australia a “distant propaganda outpost” after the superpower’s angry reaction to Canberra’s release of its foreign policy white paper.

And a senior Chinese politician has urged Australia to stop making “irresponsible remarks” about its actions in the South China Sea.

The reaction came after the Turnbull Government’s release on Thursday of the first detailed document on Australia’s place in the world in 14 years.

An editorial in the Communist Party tabloid Global Times said China’s economic influence in Australia should have eased people’s concerns, according to ABC reports.

It said China “could relegate ties with Australia to the back of the line and ignore its immature outburst”.

The white paper noted China’s remarkable economic growth and asserted the superpower had challenged the US’s position as the dominant power in the Indo-Pacific.

It also remarked on how China had caused “tension” in the South China Sea.

“Australia is particularly concerned by the unprecedented pace and scale of China’s activities,” the white paper states.

“Australia opposes the use of disputed features and artificial structures in the South China Sea for military purposes. We support the resolution of differences through negotiation based on international law.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang suggested Australia butt out of the issue.

“Australia is not a party directly concerned in the South China Sea issue, and it has made clear many times that it does not take sides,” he said in Beijing.

“We hope the Australian side will honour its commitment and stop making irresponsible remarks.”

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop brushed off the criticism yesterday.

“The white paper is principled, it is pragmatic and it sets out very clearly our interests, our values and our priorities, and I think other nations will respect that,” she told ABC radio.

The South China Sea is a major trading route with one third of the world’s shipping passing through it each year.

The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries including China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

In July last year the international tribunal in The Hague backed the Philippines in its case against Beijing, saying there was “no legal basis for China to claim historic rights” over disputed strategic reefs and tolls.

The tribunal also criticised China’s land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands.

China rejected the ruling.