The politics of standing up to Xi’s China
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May 1, 2021 5.30am
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The new Defence Minister, Peter Dutton, has been criticised for warmongering this week, and the government stands accused of trying to set up a China panic to boost its re-election chances. The toughest critic probably was Kevin Rudd. The former prime minister told the ABC’s Leigh Sales that the government was seeking “the khaki terrain of a national security agenda”.
Rudd told me that “Morrison and company are addicted to the drug of ‘standing up to China’ every day of the week” because it helps the government politically. National security was “old faithful for the next election” while other issues weren’t running in the government’s favour. “And that is what the agenda shift to China is all about.”
The politics of standing up to Xi s China watoday.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from watoday.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
China tests its missile interception equipment By ZHAO LEI | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-02-06 07:18 Share China conducted a missile test in Shenyang, Liaoning province on Oct 21, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
China conducted a land-based, midcourse missile interception test on Thursday－the fifth land-based, anti-ballistic missile test the country has publicly announced.
The Defense Ministry said in a brief statement late on Thursday that the test had achieved its goals, and the operation was defensive in nature, not targeting any other country.
Before the latest operation, China had successfully completed four such tests in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2018, according to official releases.
The statement did not give details about Thursday s test, such as when and where it took place and by which means the interception took place.