China?s response to Aukus deal was ?irrational?, Peter Dutton says

China has responded "irrationally" to the Aukus pact between Australia, the United States and Britain, the defence minister Peter Dutton says.

The conservative Australian minister continues to mount forthright criticism of the Chinese government, accusing it of "bullying" countries that stand up to Beijing.

Dutton on Sunday said the Australian government had formed the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK because it wanted to see "see increased stability and peace in our region".

"The response by China to that, I think, was irrational," Dutton told Sky News Australia.

He said it was wrong to suggest Australia was the one fuelling an arms race in the region "when we're talking about acquiring eight nuclear-powered submarines at a time when China has 355 vessels in its [naval] fleet, going to 400 within the next nine years".

"And they are producing on a tonnage rate more naval assets every 18 months than what the Royal Australian Navy has in its entire fleet," Dutton said.

China has sought to portray the Aukus deal as an "Anglo-Saxon clique" and a threat to the nuclear non-proliferation system.