Australia must prepare for war. This was stated by Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton.
He backed Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has already warned of a new “arc of autocracy” stretching from Beijing to Moscow.
Morrison said he would not hesitate to keep China off the Australian coast amid a controversial security pact between Beijing and the Solomon Islands.
Canberra urged Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manas Sogawara not to sign the agreement. The document raised concerns in Australia and New Zealand about China’s influence in the Pacific.
“We must be realistic that people like Hitler and his like are not just a figment of our imagination and not just historical figures. At the moment, we see in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin a man who is ready to kill women and children. Here’s what’s going to happen in 2022,” Dutton said.
He warned that China was “pursuing a focused course” and that the only way to “keep the peace” was to “prepare for war and be a strong adversary.”