China has condemned Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's "malicious slur" on the ruling Communist party, in a further deterioration of the government's relationship with its largest trading partner.
Mr Dutton drew the wrath of the Chinese Embassy on Friday after saying the policies of the Communist Party of China were inconsistent with those of Australia.
While Mr Dutton acknowledged the important trading relationship between the two countries, he said Australia is not going to allow university students to be unduly influenced by China, the theft of intellectual property or the hacking of government or non-government organisations.
The Chinese embassy in Australia rejected Mr Dutton's comments, calling them "irrational", "shocking" and "baseless".
"We strongly condemn his malicious slur on the Communist Party of China, which constitutes an outright provocation to the Chinese people," it said in a statement.
"Such ridiculous rhetoric severely harms the mutual trust between China and Australia and betrays the common interests of the two peoples."
It's the second time the Chinese embassy has issued a strong rebuke to a Liberal MP in just over two months.
In August, the chair of parliament's powerful committee on intelligence and security, Andrew Hastie, compared the Asian giant's rise with that of Nazi Germany in an opinion piece.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton accused China of trying to restrict free speech on university campuses and launching cyber attacks. Source: AAP
That prompted the embassy to "strongly deplore" Mr Hastie's rhetoric, warning that his actions would damage the relationship between Beijing and Canberra.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday tried to downplay the latest war of words, saying the comments simply reflect the differences between the two countries but there is also much they share in common.
He warned against any sort of over-reaction to those comments.
"I think they just simply reflect the fact that we're two different countries," Mr Morrison told reporters in Suva on Saturday during his whistlestop visit to Fiji.
He said more importantly there is much the two countries share in common through the comprehensive strategic partnership and that is what his government remains focused on.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is visiting Fiji, tried to downplay the stoush between China and Peter Dutton. Source: AAP
"That's why I think our relationship with China will always remain positive, because it's focussed on the things that we agree on and that benefit each country, not on the areas that I think there are clear differences," he said.
But Labor backbencher Peter Khalil accused the Morrison government of botching the relationship with China.
He likened Mr Dutton to Frankenstein's monster clumsily talking tough and "bellowing out his talking points".
"They've botched this relationship. There's something called diplomacy, diplomatic language. I wish there were more adults in the coalition party room and government," Mr Khalil told ABC television.
"They're saying these things for domestic political point-scoring, not for Australia's national interests."
