Australia's attitude toward the rise of China resembles the failure of France to defend against Nazi Germany and the West's misreading of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, a top Australian lawmaker wrote on Thursday, drawing a rebuke from Beijing over the comments.

Andrew Hastie, the head of Australia's parliamentary intelligence committee, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that China will test Australia's democratic values, economy and security over the next decade.

Read more: China and Australia compete for influence in the Pacific

"The West once believed that economic liberalization would naturally lead to democratization in China. 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," the conservative lawmaker and former special forces soldier wrote.

"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 neighbor has become."

South China Sea countries are building larger navies Pride of the Chinese armada The first Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was originally a Soviet model built in 1986. In 1998, the stripped hulk was sold to China by Ukraine and rebuilt by the Dailian Shipbuilding Industry Company in northeastern China. It was completed in 2012 and has been ready for service since 2016.

South China Sea countries are building larger navies 'Black holes' for Vietnam In recent years, Vietnam has acquired six Russian Kilo-class submarines. Two were delivered in 2017. The subs are nicknamed "black holes" by the US Navy, because they run very quietly and are difficult to locate. They are specialized for missions in shallow waters and for defense against enemy ships and submarines.

South China Sea countries are building larger navies Flagship of the Philippines The BRP Gregorio del Pilar is the flagship of the Philippine Navy. The vessel is one of three former US Coast Guard cutters that were acquired by the Philippines. The ship was first put in service in 1967 and it was modernized in 2011. In 2012, it was involved in the dispute with the People's Republic of China over Scarborough Shoal.

South China Sea countries are building larger navies Warships from European shipyards Indonesia is in the process of buying new ships and modernizing its navy. Pictured here is the KRI Sultan Hasanuddin, a Sigma-class corvette. The ship was built in 2007 in the Netherlands. Germany also supplies warships to countries in the region. The Kasturi-class corvettes in Malaysia and Brunei's Darussalam-class high-seas patrol boats come from German shipyards.

South China Sea countries are building larger navies Singapore's stealth ships Singapore is unmatched for hi-tech in the region. Since 2007, the city-state has put six Formidable-class stealth ships in service. All of them were built in France.

South China Sea countries are building larger navies The long arm of the US Navy The only truly global naval power remains the US Navy. The seventh fleet is stationed in the Pacific. It is the largest forward-deployed fleet of the US Navy with 50-60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 personnel. This includes the only US aircraft carrier stationed outside of the US, the USS Ronald Regan, stationed at the US naval base in Yokosuka, Japan. Author: Rodion Ebbighausen (wr)



Hastie added that Australia has failed to recognize the role of Communist ideology in China's geopolitical strategy of infrastructure building in the Asia-Pacific region, just as Western countries had failed to understand Stalin's Communist motivations.

"We must be intellectually honest and take the Chinese leadership at its word. We are dealing with a fundamentally different vision for the world," Hastie wrote.

China and Australia are major trading partners, but their political relationship remains tense over concerns Beijing is interfering in domestic affairs and expanding its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a global competition with Australia's strategic ally the United States.

Read more: Australia bans China's Huawei from mobile network project

"Almost every strategic and economic question facing Australia in the coming decades will be refracted through the geopolitical competition of the US and the PRC [China]," Hastie wrote.

China slams 'Cold War' mentality

The Chinese Embassy in Australia said in a statement that Hastie had "Cold War mentality and ideological bias."

"It goes against the world trend of peace, co-operation and development," the embassy statement read. "It is detrimental to China-Australian relations."

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Hastie's remarks were not representative of the government's position.

"We seek to work closely with [China], in the same way we do everyone in the region," he told reporters, adding that Hastie was "entirely entitled to provide his perspective."

cw/rt (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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