Former Australian PM Paul Keating criticises Liz Truss over ‘demented’ China comments

The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused Liz Truss of making "demented" comments about Chinese military aggression and urged the British foreign secretary to hurry "back to her collapsing, disreputable government".

Keating, in a blistering op-ed, also said Britain "suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation" and its tilt to the Indo-Pacific lacks credibility.

The former Labor leader, who served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, has long pushed for "engagement" with China but now finds himself increasingly at odds with the bipartisan consensus in Canberra to take a stronger line against Beijing.

Keating took aim at Truss, who visited Australia for meetings with counterparts last week, after a report said she had warned that China could use a Russian invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to launch aggression of its own in the Indo-Pacific.

"I don't think we can rule that out," Truss was reported as saying during an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

"Russia is working more closely with China than it ever has. Aggressors are working in concert and I think it's incumbent on countries like ours to work together."

Keating, who has previously said Australia should not come to Taiwan's aid in the event Beijing launches an attempt to invade the self-governed island, criticised Truss's comments.