China and Australia urged to hold fire after Nazi Germany comparison makes Beijing slam ‘toxic rhetoric’

Name: Trade ‘only one part of the battle‘ in China-Australia dispute, says legal expert Bryan Mercurio
Uploaded: 2021-09-12T12:57:40.000Z
Duration: 9 min 20 s
Description: Trade ‘only one part of the battle‘ in China-Australia dispute, says legal expert Bryan Mercurio

Australian defence minister slams ‘increasingly bellicose’ Chinese officials, prompting fierce criticism from Beijing of US-led hyping of ‘China threat theory’

Analysts urge China to understand regional nervousness, while cautioning Australia on the pitfalls of making an outright adversary of Beijing

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Peter Dutton, the defence minister of Australia, said the “times in which we live have echoes of the 1930s”. Photo: AP

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:57pm, 12 Sep 2021Updated: 10:45pm, 12 Sep 2021

When Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton in effect compared the rise of China to that of Nazi Germany, Beijing hit back in kind, slamming his “extremely dangerous” remarks as befitting the “pawns of the United States”.

Diplomatic observers are now warning both sides to tone down the rhetoric, to prevent further escalation amid a low in bilateral ties.

Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce in Australia event on Wednesday, Dutton said the activities and rhetoric of Chinese officials had grown “increasingly bellicose” and “coercive”, as he accused China of undermining the global rules-based order that had for decades benefited Beijing.

The geopolitical climate had “echoes of the 1930s”, he warned, effectively comparing China’s behaviour to the rise of Nazi Germany in the build-up to World War II.

“We are grappling with a regional environment far more complex and far less predictable than at any time since the Second World War,” Dutton said.

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Trade ‘only one part of the battle‘ in China-Australia dispute, says legal expert Bryan Mercurio

China’s defence ministry shot back in a statement on Friday night, denouncing Dutton’s latest attack on China as “groundless” and “extremely dangerous and irresponsible”.