Underestimating China a 'catastrophic failure': Aussie intel chair

The world's approach to containing China's rise resembles the "catastrophic failure" to prevent the advance of Nazi Germany, the head of Australia's parliamentary intelligence committee warned Thursday.

Andrew Hastie said the country's sovereignty and freedoms could be threatened by Beijing, much as France lost its territory to Germany at the beginning of World War II.

"Like the French, Australia has failed to see how mobile our authoritarian neighbour has become," he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

"The next decade will test our democratic values, our economy, our alliances and our security like no other time in Australian history."

Hastie added that his country had failed to recognise the role of Communist ideology in China's infrastructure building spree in the Asia-Pacific region, just as Western countries had once failed to understand the motivations of former Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Hastie's remarks were not the views of the government but added the lawmaker was "entirely entitled to provide his perspective".

"We seek to work closely with [China], in the same way we do everyone in the region," he told reporters in Townsville.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia said Hastie had revealed "his Cold-War mentality and ideological bias" and was "detrimental to China-Australian relations".

"History has proven and will continue to prove that China's peaceful development is an opportunity, not a threat to the world," an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

"We urge certain Australian politicians to take off their 'coloured lens' and view China's development path in an objective and rational way."

Australia has been keen to maintain its traditional security alliance with the United States and its relationship with its largest trading partner China -- an increasingly delicate balancing act as Washington and Beijing jostle for influence in Asia and the Pacific.

Though Canberra has long worked to avoid angering Beijing, the relationship has become strained by recent clashes over human rights and Australia's decision to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network due to security fears.

PNG backtracks on China debt refinancing statement
Sydney (AFP) Aug 8, 2019 - Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has backtracked on an announcement saying he had asked China to refinance the country's $8 billion debt, insisting the statement was released without his knowledge.

A statement from his office on Tuesday said the recently appointed PNG leader had asked China's ambassador for help in refinancing the country's 27-billion-kina public debt during a meeting in Port Moresby.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Marape's office released a new statement saying it was "false" that he was "going one way to China" to tackle the country's debt.

He said PNG was primarily discussing trade with China while examining debt options with undisclosed "non-traditional partners".

"We are in discussion with many of our bilateral partners to access very low cost concession finance to give us some breathing space," Marape said in the statement.

"This includes our discussions with (the) World Bank, ADB (Asian Development Bank) and some other possible non-traditional partners."

Cash-strapped PNG's public debt stands at about 33 percent of GDP, with interest repayments at 15 percent of the government's annual expenditure.

Marape, who took office less than three months ago, said he intended "to refinance bad and expensive loans secured by the previous government" but would not add any "reckless" burden to the country's economy.

"I have put (a) stop to more borrowings and loans until we are satisfied that the project cost-benefit analysis establishes (a) return on the loans we might secure," he said.

Marape has vowed to combat endemic corruption at home and rebalance the country's relationships with allies and multinational companies mining PNG's rich mineral resources.

Beijing has been strengthening ties with PNG and other Pacific nations by boosting engagement and offering loans for infrastructure in the region.

That has raised concerns in Australia and the United States, which are now competing with Beijing to maintain their Pacific influence in the face of China's rise.

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Manila (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
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