Kevin Rudd says the Coalition “opened the door” to Chinese influence in the South Pacific by slashing the aid budget and retreating on climate change action.

The former prime minister, in Canberra to launch a Quarterly Essay by the Nine journalist Peter Hartcher, used the opportunity to lash the Abbott and Turnbull administrations for their approach to the Chinese relationship that has become increasingly strained over allegations of foreign interference.

While Rudd would not comment on revelations this week of an alleged Chinese Communist party plot to infiltrate the Australian parliament, the renowned Sinophile said the relationship remained “difficult”.

“Managing the China relationship has always been difficult, it was difficult when I was prime minister, so it is for prime minister Morrison today,” Rudd said.

But while talking up Labor’s record in government, Rudd accused the Coalition of “capitulating” to China after it took power in 2013, bending to demands to enter into a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and conceding on negotiating positions that had been “long held” by Labor and the Howard governments.

“Abbott also collapsed Australia’s aid effort into the South Pacific, virtually cutting it in half from our period in office, and in doing so the Liberal government opened the door to the region for China,” Rudd said.

“This was an utterly reckless act with long-term national security consequences for Australia.”

Rudd said that Turnbull remained “uncritical” in his approach to China in his first two years as leader, overseeing the lease of the Port of Darwin, which was the point of access for the US marines based in the Northern Territory.

“The Americans were horrified, while the Chinese couldn’t believe their luck,” Rudd said.

However, he said Turnbull then changed course “180 degrees” to placate the right wing of his party, using attacks on China and a crackdown on foreign interference to consolidate his position in the short term.

As one of a number of remedies to counter Chinese influence in the region, Rudd said Australia needed to become the “international champion of our friends in the South Pacific” on climate change.

“The current government’s posture is the exact reverse of where we were in 2009 when we were the global voice for small island developing states … and their existential demand for a temperature ceiling of 1.5 to 2 per cent centigrade,” he said.

“The so-called Pacific step up is hollow; without credible climate leadership from Australia it will be seen in the neighbourhood as a dead letter.”

He also recommended the government develop a national China strategy, driven by cabinet, saying it was “negligent” that the government had not already done so.

“It should be crystal clear about our national objectives in relation to China, just as it should be clear in its understanding of what China’s objectives are in relation to Australia, just as it should be brutally pragmatic.”

He said Australia had failed to develop a balanced strategy towards China that protected security interests while also advancing economic interests.

“This has eluded our current government,” he said.

“Australia needs a more mature approach to managing the complexity of the relationship than having politicians out competing with one another about who can sound the most hairy chested about China on any given day of the week.”

While arguing the country needed to maintain “domestic vigilance” against any substantive threats of foreign interference, Rudd also warned against a return of the “yellow peril” and a “populist witch hunt” of certain individuals.

“It is very easy for this to translate to a form of racial profiling,” he said.

Rudd also said Australia should push ahead with trying to join Asean, diversify its economy and consolidate the alliance with the US, while also preparing for the possibility of further American isolationism.

Saying the country needed to prepare to stand on its own in the event of a further US retreat, Rudd also advocated a “big and sustainable Australia” with a population of about 50 million later this century to fund the defence force it would need.

“This is not politically correct, I know that … but I don’t care, it’s just an uncomfortable truth,” he said.

Rudd also commented on China’s ideological viewpoint that saw two sets of values in conflict, saying the authoritarian regime of Xi Jinping had had become increasingly assertive and saw western liberal democracy as its “ideological enemy”.

He said China saw the Trump administration as accelerating the decline of the United States in the geopolitical world order and “damaging the global brand” of democracy itself.

“On balance, the trade war as seen from Beijing, is a lesser problem than the greater strategic advantage for China’s wider national interest from the continuation of the Trump presidency,” he said.

Kevin Rudd says the Coalition “opened the door” to Chinese influence in the South Pacific by slashing the aid budget and retreating on climate change action.

The former prime minister, in Canberra to launch a Quarterly Essay by the Nine journalist Peter Hartcher, used the opportunity to lash the Abbott and Turnbull administrations for their approach to the Chinese relationship that has become increasingly strained over allegations of foreign interference.

While Rudd would not comment on revelations this week of an alleged Chinese Communist party plot to infiltrate the Australian parliament, the renowned Sinophile said the relationship remained “difficult”.

“Managing the China relationship has always been difficult, it was difficult when I was prime minister, so it is for prime minister Morrison today,” Rudd said.

But while talking up Labor’s record in government, Rudd accused the Coalition of “capitulating” to China after it took power in 2013, bending to demands to enter into a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and conceding on negotiating positions that had been “long held” by Labor and the Howard governments.

“Abbott also collapsed Australia’s aid effort into the South Pacific, virtually cutting it in half from our period in office, and in doing so the Liberal government opened the door to the region for China,” Rudd said.

“This was an utterly reckless act with long-term national security consequences for Australia.”

Rudd said that Turnbull remained “uncritical” in his approach to China in his first two years as leader, overseeing the lease of the Port of Darwin, which was the point of access for the US marines based in the Northern Territory.

“The Americans were horrified, while the Chinese couldn’t believe their luck,” Rudd said.

However, he said Turnbull then changed course “180 degrees” to placate the right wing of his party, using attacks on China and a crackdown on foreign interference to consolidate his position in the short term.

As one of a number of remedies to counter Chinese influence in the region, Rudd said Australia needed to become the “international champion of our friends in the South Pacific” on climate change.

“The current government’s posture is the exact reverse of where we were in 2009 when we were the global voice for small island developing states … and their existential demand for a temperature ceiling of 1.5 to 2 per cent centigrade,” he said.

“The so-called Pacific step up is hollow; without credible climate leadership from Australia it will be seen in the neighbourhood as a dead letter.”

He also recommended the government develop a national China strategy, driven by cabinet, saying it was “negligent” that the government had not already done so.

“It should be crystal clear about our national objectives in relation to China, just as it should be clear in its understanding of what China’s objectives are in relation to Australia, just as it should be brutally pragmatic.”

He said Australia had failed to develop a balanced strategy towards China that protected security interests while also advancing economic interests.

“This has eluded our current government,” he said.

“Australia needs a more mature approach to managing the complexity of the relationship than having politicians out competing with one another about who can sound the most hairy chested about China on any given day of the week.”

While arguing the country needed to maintain “domestic vigilance” against any substantive threats of foreign interference, Rudd also warned against a return of the “yellow peril” and a “populist witch hunt” of certain individuals.

“It is very easy for this to translate to a form of racial profiling,” he said.

Rudd also said Australia should push ahead with trying to join Asean, diversify its economy and consolidate the alliance with the US, while also preparing for the possibility of further American isolationism.

Saying the country needed to prepare to stand on its own in the event of a further US retreat, Rudd also advocated a “big and sustainable Australia” with a population of about 50 million later this century to fund the defence force it would need.

“This is not politically correct, I know that … but I don’t care, it’s just an uncomfortable truth,” he said.

Rudd also commented on China’s ideological viewpoint that saw two sets of values in conflict, saying the authoritarian regime of Xi Jinping had had become increasingly assertive and saw western liberal democracy as its “ideological enemy”.

He said China saw the Trump administration as accelerating the decline of the United States in the geopolitical world order and “damaging the global brand” of democracy itself.

“On balance, the trade war as seen from Beijing, is a lesser problem than the greater strategic advantage for China’s wider national interest from the continuation of the Trump presidency,” he said.