Chinese officials have forcefully condemned a Liberal MP for comments he made linking the West's handling of China's rise to a failure to contain the advance of Nazi Germany.

Key points: Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie used a newspaper opinion piece to raise his concerns about China

Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie used a newspaper opinion piece to raise his concerns about China He linked the rise of China with the West's failure to contain the advance of Nazi Germany

He linked the rise of China with the West's failure to contain the advance of Nazi Germany Chinese officials said the comments demonstrated a "Cold War mentality and ideological bias"

Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier in the day shrugged off a warning by West Australian backbencher Andrew Hastie that Beijing posed a threat to Australia's freedoms.

Mr Hastie used an opinion piece in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to warn against underestimating China's influence, saying Australia would face its biggest democratic, economic and security test over the next decade.

"Right now our greatest vulnerability lies not in our infrastructure, but in our thinking," he wrote.

"That intellectual failure makes us institutionally weak. If we don't understand the challenge ahead for our civil society, in our parliaments, in our universities, in our private enterprises, in our charities — our little platoons — then choices will be made for us. Our sovereignty, our freedoms, will be diminished."

He compared the situation faced by Australia to that faced by French strategists tasked with defending their country against Nazi Germany.

"The West once believed that economic liberalisation would naturally lead to democratisation in China," he wrote.

"This was our Maginot Line. It would keep us safe, just as the French believed their series of steel and concrete forts would guard them against the German advance in 1940. But their thinking failed catastrophically. The French had failed to appreciate the evolution of mobile warfare.

"Like the French, Australia has failed to see how mobile our authoritarian neighbour has become."

The Chinese Embassy in Australia, in a statement, described the remarks as "Cold War mentality" that was "detrimental" to the relationship between the countries.

It called on politicians to view China's growth as an opportunity, not a threat.

"We strongly deplore the Australian federal MP Andrew Hastie's rhetoric on 'China threat' which lays bare his Cold War mentality and ideological bias," the statement reads.

"It goes against the world trend of peace, co-operation and development. It is 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."

Earlier in the day, Mr Morrison sought to distance himself from Mr Hastie's comments.

"[Mr Hastie is] entirely entitled to provide his perspective," the Prime Minister said.

"But what's important is that the Government maintains the very consistent approach that we have on these issues. We're very clear about what decisions we've taken in relation to that partnership we have with China."

Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison have both played down Andrew Hastie's comments on China. ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

Mr Morrison rejected suggestions Mr Hastie's commentary would prompt a backlash from Beijing.

"I don't really think it's offering anything new," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said Mr Hastie was entitled to express his views as a backbencher.

She said the relationship between Australia and China was beneficial to both countries, although there were "differences from time to time."

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Mr Hastie was one of the Parliament's most distinguished MPs, having served in the SAS.

He refused to be drawn on the contents of the article but said Mr Hastie, who heads Federal Parliament's powerful security and intelligence committee, was somebody "who knows the space well".

Federal Labor labelled Mr Hastie's stance as "extreme and overblown and unwelcome".

Foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Mr Morrison could not simply downplay the comments.

"The China relationship is a critical relationship for Australia — it is both complex and consequential," she said.

"This Government has a history of its members making ill-advised and unnecessarily inflammatory statements."