Penny Wong’s brutal return to the former prime minister who tried to educate her on China’s stance

Foreign Secretary Penny Wong has hit back at former Prime Minister Paul Keating after he accused the senator of pushing a misguided agenda against China.

Speaking at the ASEAN summit in Melbourne, Ms Wong said Southeast Asia was facing “destabilising, provocative and coercive actions”, in a thinly veiled swipe at China’s perceived expansionism.

Mr Keating argued on Tuesday that “Australia and Australian policy are at odds with the general tenor of ASEAN’s perceived strategic interests”.

The former Labor leader accused Senator Wong of adopting an anti-China stance to do the bidding of pro-US bureaucrats.

“It doesn’t take much to encourage Penny Wong, sporting her ‘deeply concerned’ scowl, to rattle the Chinese tin, a tin she gave a good shake yesterday,” he said.

‘Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, threw a huge stone in Wong’s pond by telling Australia not to put Australia’s problems with China on ASEAN.

“Anwar is making clear that Malaysia, for its part, is not buying into US hegemony in East Asia, and that states are being pressured to protect China along the way.”

Senator Wong laughed when Karl Stefanovic asked her if she ever lay awake at night wondering why Mr Keating “didn’t like her”.

“I can honestly say no,” he told the Today Show on Wednesday.

“It’s great to be here with all the ASEAN leaders, Southeast Asia, it’s very important for Australia’s security and for our future prosperity.”

‘Just for sporting reasons, why don’t you give it to him?’ Stefanovic said.

‘You have the right to have your opinions, it doesn’t keep me up at night, but I will say one thing. It was a new position to be lectured on whether or not I understood my country of birth in Malaysia, but he has the right to his opinion,” Senator Wong responded.

“Are you shaking the Chinese can, like he says?” —Stefanovic insisted.

“I would invite people to read what I said yesterday: this forum is about how we work together to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in our nation,” Ms Wong responded.

“Mr Keating has the right to express his views, but the Government is focused on how to work with countries in the region to foster peace, stability and prosperity to ensure economic and national security.”

Stefanovic suggested that Southeast Asian leaders were less concerned about tensions caused by China’s alleged expansion in the region.

“Asian leaders don’t seem to have the same level of problems,” he told the senator.

‘I think there are a variety of different views within ASEAN on great power competition. But one thing that unites ASEAN and that Australia shares is the desire for a stable region,” Senator Wong responded.

‘One of the things that contributes to stability is ensuring that there are rules. Things like the law of the sea, ensuring there is no dangerous or risky behavior at sea.

Anthony Albanese was also forced to respond to accusations that Australia was sending mixed signals to China, answering the question with a curt “no”.