China threatens Australia to stay out of Taiwan or be one of 'first to be hit'

 

China warns 'too weak' Australia to stay out of Taiwan or be one of 'first to be hit'

AUSTRALIA has been branded "too weak" by China as the nation completes a joint military drill with allied forces.

 Beijing’s Communist Party mouthpiece, Global Times, lashed out against the country with a warning not to interfere with their Taiwan affairs or they would be “among the first to be hit.” The warning follows the completion of a joint military drill in the South China Sea which saw Australia involved in friendly war game exercises with Japan, the US and France.

In a scathing article, Global Times said: “The People's Liberation Army doesn't even need to make pointed responses to the joint drill since it's insignificant militarily.

“Australia's military is too weak to be a worthy opponent of China, and if it dares to interfere in a military conflict for example in the Taiwan Straits, its forces will be among the first to be hit.”

The ARC21 war game exercises held in the South China Sea practiced anti-aircraft defence, amphibious assaults and urban warfare.

The drill follows a series of comments made by Australian senator, Jim Molan, who proposed that Australia may be able to deter China from further acts of aggression by deploying “significant forces into the region.”

 Senator Molan made the comments after predicting that China may invade Taiwan “sooner rather than later.”

Global Times continued: “Australia must not think it can hide from China if it provokes.

“Australia is within range of China's conventional warhead-equipped DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile.”

Tensions between Beijing and Canberra have escalated over the past year as China introduced nearly $20 billion in tariffs together with bans on exporting against Australia.

Relations further declined when Australia banned Huawei from building its 5G network and called for a probe into the origin of the coronavirus.

Last month, Michael Pezzullo, the Australian Home Affairs secretary said the “drums of war were getting louder”.

Beijing commentators have predicted that Xi Jinping’s strategic goal is to reunify China with the US and Japan backed Taiwan.

PLA warplanes have incurred on Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone almost daily over the last few weeks, sending around 25 military aircraft into its airspace.

 China has claimed over 90 per cent of the South China Sea as its own territory.