Scott Morrison has delivered a thinly-veiled swipe at China, warning economic coercion and cyber attacks are becoming the new “tool of statecraft” of authoritarian regimes.
The prime minister on Thursday declared liberal values were “under assault” in a world increasingly threatened by authoritarianism, urging democracies to stick together in the Indo-Pacific.
“There is a great polarisation that our world is at risk of moving towards,” he said.
“A polarisation between authoritarian regimes and autocracies, and the liberal democracies that we love.
“A liberal democracy and a liberal set of values that underpin the global world order that has delivered so much for the world.”
Mr Morrison made the comments to the Raisina Dialogue, a multicultural meeting held annually in New Delhi, where he urged Australia and India to maintain a “shared mission” in the Indo-Pacific.
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