Tony Abbott Describes CCP Live Fire Exercises as ‘Act of Intimidation’

Abbott warned the latest actions served as a warning that ‘we can’t take for granted that the Pacific is a calm lake.’

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott holds a press conference in Canberra on Sept. 15, 2015. Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) latest live-fire exercises near Australia as an “act of intimidation.”

Abbott said the communist regime is undoubtedly attempting to show the region who the “new big dog on the block is.”

“Let’s make no bones about it, it was an exercise in intimidation. The fact that there were not one but two live-fire exercises, the fact that there was no formal notification to government—that was a sign that China intends to do what the hell it likes, regardless of any view that we have,” Abbott told the Institute of Public Affairs.

He said the actions were designed to send a message suggesting that the United States could no longer go unchallenged in the region and that the peace in the Pacific could not be taken for granted.

This comes after the CCP conducted multiple surprise live-fire drills near Australia, Taiwan, and New Zealand in February without appropriate notification, then went onto circumnavigate around the Australian coastline.

Commercial flights between Australia and New Zealand were diverted, with planes flying near the CCP’s live firing exercise for half an hour before pilots were alerted.

Three People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) vessels also came within 277 kilometres of Australian land on Feb. 19.

Abbott said the Albanese government can “talk about the normalisation of relations” but “the new normal is that China will attempt to bully us into a form of submission.”

However, the most disturbing aspect of the incident was that Australia appeared almost entirely unaware.

“And when we did become aware, it seemed that we were relying on New Zealand to do the naval shadowing,” Abbott said.

Abbott acknowledged that Albanese has a difficult job and a “lot on his plate,” but said his suggesting it was just a normal rite of passage rather than a display of naked strength was a “total misreading of the situation.”

Abbott Suggests Strengthening Australia’s Defence

Abbott said the incident showed the need to build up and strengthen Australia’s armed forces, particularly the navy and air force.

He believes Australia can only preserve peace through strength, not weakness.

“Because as my friend [shadow Defence Minister] Andrew Hastie often says, weakness is provocative, and what we saw from Australia last week was weakness,” he said.

The former prime minister noted that under U.S. President Donald Trump, America expects its friends to take more responsibility for their own defence.

“America under Trump, is much more transactional than before. It expects, understandably, its allies to do more for themselves. And I suppose in that sense, this Chinese visitation, this Chinese navy circumnavigation of Australia, is another sign, that we are going to have to do a lot more for ourselves when it comes to our military strength and our preparedness for tensions and dare I say it possible conflicts to come,” Abbott said.

The former Coalition leader said there was no doubt that Australia would have to spend a lot more on its military. Australia needs a long-range strike, and while eventually the AUKUS subs will provide that, “we need it now, not in 10 or 15 years’ time.”

How Did Albanese Respond?

Following China’s live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to downplay the incident, noting that the CCP complied with international law.

However, Albanese did acknowledge that Beijing’s notification of the live-fire exercises was not good enough.

“Defence confirmed that China did comply with international law, and that’s important,” Albanese said on Feb. 22.

“I think they could have given notice, but given Australia has a presence from time to time in the South China Sea, its location is hinted at there by the title of the sea, that we engage in activities that are lawful.

“Notification did occur of this event, what we have done is to make representation, saying that we think best practice would be to give more notice, and we’ve done that through diplomatic channels, as is appropriate.”

Airservices Australia, who manage air traffic control across the Australian airspace, told a Senate Estimates hearing on Feb. 24 that they only found out about the PLA’s live fire exercise after being notified by a Virgin airlines pilot. 

A Defence Department spokesperson previously told the Epoch Times that the live fire activity had complied with international law conventions, but suggested the notification period was inappropriate.