Beijing blasts Australia for spreading “China threat” accusation
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The news: Foreign ministry spokesman for Beijing, Lin Jian, accused Australia of “brazenly” spreading a narrative of China as a threat when Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles met with US, Japanese and Philippine allies at a conference in Singapore on the weekend.
The context: Lin said that the countries spread the ‘false narrative’ as they sought to use the East China Sea issue and the South China Sea issue to “sow discord and incite confrontation between regional countries.”
“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it, and has made serious protests,” Lin said at a press conference on Tuesday night.
The accusations follow comments from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over the weekend, who warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore, Hegseth said “We are not going to sugarcoat it — the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent.”
Hegseth assured allies in the region that they would not be abandoned to face the increasing military and economic pressures from China alone.
Hegseth also took the opportunity to call on Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the suggestion, reiterating the Labor government's commitment to increasing defence investment to 2.3% of GDP over the next four years, up from its current level of 2.02%.
What they said: Lin Jian also stated at the press conference: “Bloc politics and confrontation are products of the Cold War mentality…Bloc politics and confrontation will not solve any problem, still less intimidate China. We will not flinch in defending China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
Lin then called on the US and its allies to “stop the smears and vilification, stop distorting facts and shifting blames on maritime issues, stop patching together exclusive mini-groups, and stop disrupting the effort of relevant parties to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation and defend regional peace and stability.”
The sources: China Embassy transcript, NBC
