'Previously inconceivable' war between the US and China IS possible, says Scott Morrison as he calls on both countries to show restraint
- Former PM Kevin Rudd said a 'hot war' between US and China could break out
- Scott Morrison on Wednesday said his government considered it a possibility
- He also slammed 'economic coercion' after Beijing banned beef and barley
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has warned that war between the US and China is possible as tensions grow in the run-up to the US election.
Mr Morrison was responding to an article by former leader Kevin Rudd who wrote on Tuesday that a 'hot war' between the superpowers could break out for the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In an interview with US think tank the Aspen Institute, the prime minister said he would not use the phrase 'hot war' but admitted that armed conflict is possible.
Chinese soldiers march with the national flag at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019
'Our defence update expresses it differently and certainly not as dramatically, as Kevin has,' he said.
'But we have acknowledged that what was previously inconceivable and not considered even possible or likely in terms of those types of outcomes, is not considered in those contexts anymore.
'So there has been a change, there has obviously been a change and I don't think that's terribly remarkable.'
Mr Rudd warned that 'a dangerous political and strategic cocktail' threatened peace as Donald Trump and Joe Biden criticise China to to win votes ahead of this year's election and Beijing asserts itself in the Indo-Pacific.
The region faces growing instability after a brutal border dispute between India and China in the Himalayan mountains that killed at least 20 soldiers and with ongoing Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Military vehicles carrying DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the flight deck as a EA-18G Growler lands on the USS Ronald Reagan, off the coast of Queensland on 12 July, 2019
Mr Morrison also criticised China's use of 'economic coercion' after Beijing banned Australian barley and some beef exports following Canberra's call for an investigation into the origins of coronavirus.
'Economic coercion is increasingly employed as a tool of statecraft,' he said.
The prime minister called for China to 'enhance regional and global stability' rather than focus on a 'narrow, national, or aspirational interest.
'China and the United States have a special responsibility to uphold a common set of rules that build an international society,' he said.
'That means respecting international law and the peaceful resolution of disputes including trade disputes.
'It means a commitment to rules-based economic interaction. Neither coercion of abdication from the international system is the way forward.'
The government has said it will challenge China's ban on Australian barley via the World Trade Organisation.
Australia in June launched six warships into the Indo-Pacific for training operations ahead of huge show of force in the region with the US Navy. Pictured: HMA Ships Stuart (foreground), Hobart and Canberra (background) depart Fleet Base East in Sydney
Beijing and Canberra have been at loggerheads in recent weeks after Australia led global calls for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, which first surfaced in Wuhan late last year.
China retaliated by slapping an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley, suspending beef imports and telling students and tourists not to travel Down Under in an apparent attempt to damage the Australian economy.
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Last month the federal government announced it will spend $270billion over the next ten years on beefing up the Australian Defence Force with state-of-the-art equipment including long-range missiles and new artillery systems amid the strategic and political tensions.
On 19 June China was blamed for a massive cyber-attack on Australia amid an escalating feud between the two nations.
Later that month Australia launched six warships into the Indo-Pacific for training operations ahead of huge show of force in the region with the US Navy.
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