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Julie Bishop hits back at former China ambassador’s calls for sacking

Julie Bishop has slammed Mr Raby's analysis as It is a profoundly "ignorant and ill-informed".

Julie Bishop has slammed Mr Raby's analysis as It is a profoundly "ignorant and ill-informed". Photo: AAP

Julie Bishop has hit back at former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby, who penned a damning opinion piece on Monday night claiming that relations with Beijing can only improve with the Foreign Minister’s sacking.

In the piece, Mr Raby slams Ms Bishop for not having visited China in more than two years while angering Beijing with “strident public comments on the South China Sea” and an “utterly bizarre” 2017 speech that he maintains questioned Beijing’s regional leadership.

“It is a profoundly ignorant and ill-informed analysis of the China-Australia relationship,” Ms Bishop told the ABC in a statement.

“Australia’s deep diplomatic engagement with China is continuing at the highest levels.

“The fundamental interests underpinning the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Australia and China have not changed.”

In the Fairfax piece published late Monday night, Mr Raby – who told the ABC he had nothing further to add – declares that Australia’s foreign policy is “missing in action” and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “needs to replace the Foreign Minister with someone better equipped for the demands of the job”.

“[Julie Bishop] has many esteemed attributes both professionally and personally and has achievements to her credit,” Mr Raby writes.

“Australia, however, needs a foreign minister who is steeped in history and geopolitics, who lives and breathes the issues.

“And who has a grasp of the profound challenges Australia faces in the rapidly evolving new world order being shaped, in large measure, by China.”

‘Utterly wrong’: Malcolm Turnbull

Asked by reporters if he had a response to the advice from a former ambassador to China, Mr Turnbull told a press briefing in Melbourne this morning that he stood by Ms Bishop and that the piece was disappointing and “utterly wrong”.

“I was disappointed by that article. It’s utterly wrong,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Julie Bishop is doing an outstanding job. Every time she goes out on the world stage, she makes Australians proud. She’s a formidable foreign minister, a great diplomat and a great colleague.”

Last year, Beijing defended itself as a good example for the region after comments Ms Bishop made in Singapore, where she appeared to question China’s ability to be a regional leader while citing the communist country’s lack of democracy.

“While non-democracies such as China can thrive when participating in the present system, an essential pillar of our preferred order is democratic community,” Ms Bishop said at the time.

“History also shows democracy and democratic institutions are essential for nations if they are to reach their economic potential.”

At the time, Chinese state media outlet Global Times warned that “Australia should not meddle in Chinese affairs” and following the latest piece by Mr Raby there has been mixed responses to the spat on social media.

“It is shameful and against the interests of Australia to echo the state media of the China Communist Party (CCP) and call for the resignation of the Australian foreign minister,” Dr Feng Chongyi, associate professor in China studies at the University of Technology Sydney, told the ABC.

“The ‘new world order’ Geoff Raby is trying to describe here is a world dictated by the CCP state – it means China would be a key player to decide world issues,” said Dr Feng, who was detained by China during an academic trip last year.

“Australia and liberal democracies all over the world need to stand firm in shaping China’s behaviour to abide by the existing liberal international order.”

The Chinese Embassy in Australia has not responded to the ABC’s request for comments.

-ABC

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