Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has lashed members of the Liberal party for whipping up national "hysteria" over China, describing outspoken backbencher Andrew Hastie as "post-pubescent" and warning of a descent into "neo-McCarthyism".

Mr Rudd said Mr Hastie's recent comments had poured "a whole lot of petrol" onto what has always been "a complex and difficult relationship" between Australia and its largest trading partner, while blaming former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for tensions.

Kevin Rudd says Prime Minister Scott Morrison must take a 'balanced' approach to Australia's relationship with China. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"I'm always cautious about post-pubescent politicians ... or pre-pubescent in his case, I'm not sure, the best way to make a name for yourself within the raging beast of Australian conservatism is to whack the Chinese on the head," Mr Rudd told the Canberra Writers Festival on Friday.

Mr Hastie - who chairs the Parliament's intelligence and security committee - has warned of an erosion of "our sovereignty and our freedoms", likening the world's approach to containing Beijing's military expansion to the "catastrophic failure" to prevent the rise of Nazi Germany.