Today I addressed the Senate on an issueof concern to many of you: China.
Senator McGRATH(Queensland—DeputyGovernment Whip in the Senate) (13:11):
FromMandalay to Moresby, from Manila to Melbourne, an 'iron silk curtain' isforming. A Chinese silk curtain is plunging as a parachute of leaden control onsovereign free nations—subjugating, suffocating and strangling freedom througheconomic means of control.
CommunistChina has declared economic war on free democratic nations, upsetting thetraditional rules based order, meaning we must carefully consider our dealingswith China.
China isan expansionist, rapacious communist dictatorship intent on power.
CommunistChina is intent on domination not through traditional means of war but throughthree fronts of war—economic, political and cultural repression within a matrixof cyberwarfare.
Hong Kongis lost and her people are now suffering—and it wasn't subtle. Hong Kong is nolonger part of a 'one nation, two system' legally bound agreement. In agrievous breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong is nowjust another communist controlled city with no freedom. Hong Kong is 'Tibetwith a sea view'.
Weshouldn't forget that Tibet was the first nation to fall to Communist China.And we must hold China accountable for the ethnic and cultural cleansing of theUighurs.
It istime to take a strong stance against this threat to a rules based order.
TheChinese communist government want to control not by direct force but through'iron silk' to bind others to appease them. Barbara Tuchman, in her seminalwork The Guns Of August, outlined the build-up to the outbreak of war in 1914.
Thesimilarities to today are startling. President Xi Jinping is the kaiser. Whilethe last emperor of the Qing dynasty was deposed in 1911, President Xi Jinpingis the first emperor of the 'Red Mao dynasty', intent on proving his leadershipand the leadership and power of his nation.
CommunistChina is akin to imperial Germany—a growing power needing to prove power.
Overrecent days the US State Department has expressed concern about China'srecently enacted coastguard law, which, for the first time, explicitly allowsits coastguard to fire on foreign vessels. The US State Department is,appropriately, 'concerned by language in the law that expressly ties thepotential use of force, including armed force, by the China coastguard to theenforcement of China's claims, and ongoing territorial and maritime dispute inthe East and South China Seas'.
Thisrecent action by China will be used to intimidate China's maritime neighbours,especially in asserting its unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.This new threat is the next step in China's strategy to assert their dominanceand expand their influence in the region.
Meanwhile,Japan this week has lodged a dispute with Beijing after Chinese coastguardvessels entered Japan's territorial waters for the seventh time this here.
Chinahave proven to us time and time again that they is more than willing to hidetheir actions from the rest of the world, whether it be the ethnic and culturalcleansing of the Uighurs or the COVID cover-up in Wuhan, all while trying toexert influence over other nations, particularly those nations within the SouthPacific to which we have a great responsibility.
As theirneighbour, we have done much, but we need to be doing much, much more tostrengthen our position against the influence of China not just in Papua NewGuinea but across the broader Indo-Pacific. As we saw with Kokoda, New Guineais the gateway to Australia and must be protected not just because it is in ourstrategic interest but because it is righteous.
Throughoutthe world we have seen China, the so-called developing nation, remarkably growand expand their influence.
I canrecall, when backpacking in Ethiopia in 2007, seeing Chinese work gangsbuilding roads in the hills. My concerns have been building for some time, andthese concerns are shared by Queenslanders, and I know I'm not alone inexpressing my concerns about the rising influence and subtle aggression ofChina, particularly within the Pacific region.
Overtime, China has slowly increased its influence and control over nations andglobal organisations. This is a clear step-by-step approach to the economic,political and cultural subjugation of sovereign nations.
As isbecoming alarmingly clear, where China's overtures are refused and influencerebuffed, the Chinese Communist Party is prepared to flex China's economicmuscle to exert pressure on other countries, including Australia, or pass lawswithin Beijing that give the Chinese Communist Party authority to exertsignificant force in any territory it deems to be its own.
Chinaused COVID as an alibi for their takeover of Hong Kong, the first COVIDcasualty, and I think it is very clear who is next: Taiwan.
Whetherwe stand on the side of Taiwan or sit back and let freedom die on that islandnation will be one of the greatest tests for the free world. I warn my fellowAustralians that we've already allowed Hong Kong to be the 21st century'sCzechoslovakia.
We cannotallow Taiwan to be Poland in 1939. We must stand with the free people ofTaiwan.
Thisexpansion and the ability to make demands over so many nations means Chinese isnot only strategising for global leadership or, better put perhaps,dictatorship but seeking to position itself as a price giver not a price taker,using initiatives under the guise of development that will be used later toexpand its interest or assert dominance. This form of economic slavery throughthe hire purchase of nations must be combatted, especially within the Pacific.
Tradewith China we must, and we will, and we shall. Trade, this mercantile magic, isso important, as it enriches both our nation, but we cannot pretend that theregime in China today or tomorrow is the same China we have dealt with in thepast.
Agents ofthe Chinese communist government launch regular cyberattacks on Australia. Ispeak to you from the parliament of Australia, which has been under cyberattackfrom agents within China. This parliament has been desecrated throughcyberattacks by Chinese communist government agents.
We'veseen our economy attacked sector by sector. We've seen Chinese agents attemptto buy influence in political parties. Our universities have prostitutedthemselves.
If thereis a light to be found or a glimmer of hope for liberty, freedom and democracy,it is that the world is waking up to this red dawn.
Beaconsare being lit. Bells are ringing. The Quad of Australia, India, Japan andAmerica must quadruple and quadruple some more. We must continue to support ourneighbours in the Pacific. We must stand with Taiwan.
Ourfriends are our mates, and our friends' friends are also our mates. We mustcontinue to strengthen our relationship with our mates around the world. Wecannot beat about the bush. Communist China is a threat to a rules based order.
We mustbe careful. We must be aware. The red dawn is upon us. The iron silk parachuteis falling.
JamesMcGrath, Liberal National Party of Queensland, Nambour.
