"What Peter was talking about was the fact that there are differences between Australia and the People's Republic of China. Of course there are," Mr Morrison told reporters. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says Australian values are inconsistent with that of China's ruling Communist Party. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "I would warn against any sort of over-analysis or overreaction to those comments. Because I think they just simply reflect the fact that we're two different countries. But more importantly, through our comprehensive strategic partnership, there is much we share in common." Asked about the Chinese embassy's angry reaction, the Prime Minister said: "I tend not to overreact to statements". "I think the best way that we've always managed our relationship is moving through these events and just focusing on the things that are actually important to both countries. And that is our comprehensive strategic partnership."

Morrison talks to US on trade, Turkey The renewed diplomatic tensions between Australia and China come as United States President Donald Trump announced "phase one" of a new trade deal with China - the first breakthrough in negotiations since the two countries launched a trade war 18 months ago. Mr Morrison, who has been encouraging the US and China to break the impasse, said he had been messaging with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the wake of the news. "I said, 'Congratulations'. I'm very pleased that he's been able to get this done." In a further exchange with the US, Mr Morrison also said he and Foreign Minister Marise Payne had spoken to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the deteriorating situation in Syria and Turkey.

The Prime Minister said it was "good" to have the briefing and condemned Turkey's recent invasion of Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria as a "very, very concerning," describing it as a "unilateral act". "They are the ones walking across borders," he said. Dutton responds to question on cyber attacks Mr Dutton made his comments during a press conference in Canberra on Friday, when he was questioned about cyber attacks and other strategic threats to Australia. "We have a very important trading relationship with China – incredibly important – but we are not going to allow university students to be unduly influenced, we are not going to allow theft of intellectual property, and we are not going to allow our government bodies or non-government bodies to be hacked into," he said.

While he stressed he had no issue with the Chinese people or the local Chinese community, he said the Chinese government's values were "inconsistent" with Australia's. "Our issue, as I've said before, is not with the Chinese people, not with the amazing Chinese diaspora community that we have here in Australia. My issue is with the CCP and their policies to the extent that they are inconsistent with our own values." Following the comments, the Chinese embassy in Canberra released a short statement. "We strongly condemn his malicious slur on the CCP, which constitutes an outright provocation to the Chinese people," the embassy said. "Such ridiculous rhetoric severely harms the mutual trust between China and Australia and betrays the common interests of the two peoples."