China News Service: Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton speaking to the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia said that the world is "grappling with a regional environment far more complex and far less predictable than at any time since the Second World War"; the geopolitical climate had "echoes of the 1930s"; China has grown increasingly coercive, driven by a zero-sum mentality, and is undermining the sovereignty of other nations and the global rules-based order. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: The Australian government official was openly hyping up the so-called China threat theory and wantonly criticizing and attacking China. This fully exposed his Cold War mentality and ideological bias. It runs counter to the trend of peace, development and cooperation in today's world and is detrimental to regional peace and stability as well as Australia's interests. China firmly rejects his extremely dangerous and irresponsible behavior.

China is committed to the path of peaceful development and to developing friendly cooperative relations with other countries on the basis of the five principles of peaceful co-existence. We always contribute to world peace and development and uphold international order. We firmly uphold the UN-centered international system and basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. That being said, we oppose the imposition of rules set by a few countries on the international community. China has never infringed upon Australia's sovereignty. It is Australia that has time and again violated international law and basic norms of international relations and grossly interfered in China's domestic affairs, provoking tension and confrontation as if it wished for nothing more than trouble. The international community can see plainly who is driven by "zero-sum game" mentality and being coercive.

We hope Australian politicians will stop sensationalizing the so-called China threat theory and seeing China as the "imagined enemy", or else the stone they are lifting will end up falling on their feet.