Australian party leaders clash on China in election debate
ABC News
Australia’s prime minister and his opposition rival have clashed heatedly over Australia’s tumultuous relationship with China in the first leaders' debate ahead of elections on May 21
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia’s prime minister and his opposition rival clashed heatedly over the country's tumultuous relationship with China on Wednesday in the first leaders' debate ahead of elections on May 21.
The opposition center-left Labor Party has accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government of Australia’s biggest foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since World War II after China and the Solomon Islands announced this week they had signed a bilateral security pact.
The pact has raised fears of a Chinese naval presence on the Solomon Islands, only 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) off the northeast Australian coast.
Morrison said China was to blame for the new threat, not Australia, which is the Solomon Islands' main security partner.
