Relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated in recent months over the Covid-19 pandemic, trade, Hong Kong and China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority. The shock conflict warning was made by Kevin Rudd, who served as Prime Minister of Australia between 2007 and 2010.
Mr Rudd spoke at a La Trobe University Melbourne event entitled “The China Challenge: Can a New Cold War Be Prevented?”
Due to the coronavirus, the series of discussions was kept virtual.
Mr Rudd warned of “conflict through miscalculation and escalation” before Americans went to the polls on November 3.
He explained: “There is a real danger that with a collapsing diplomatic relationship and an erosion of all forms of political capital between the two countries in their bilateral relationship.
“If you have an incident of a ship colliding with another ship, an airplane colliding with another plane … then you have a crisis with a plane going down or a ship over what happens then.”
Tensions between the US and China are particularly acute in the South China Sea, the busiest lane in the world.
Beijing’s territorial claim over the area overlaps with that of no less than six of its neighbors.
To strengthen its position, China has built military bases, including airstrips, on natural and artificial islands in the area.
LADS MORE: US throws back with fresh sanctions on Chinese companies in South China Sea
Before entering politics, Mr. Rudd, who speaks Mandarin, served as a diplomat in China.
He also used his conversation to warn Xi Jinping, who became the president of China in 2013, will likely try to seize Taiwan within a decade.
Taiwan, formerly the Republic of China, is an island where anti-communist troops withdrew after defeat in the Chinese Civil War.
It currently has a population of nearly 24 million people and has military ties with the US.
Mr Rudd said China was more likely to use a combination of economic blockade and cyber-warfare to get its way instead of openly invading.
He explained: “The Chinese under Xi Jinping believe that the forces of history are with them.
“They are ultimately dialectical materialists.”
Dialectical materialism is a term used by Marxists to claim that their historical triumph is inevitable.
Australia and China failed miserably in April when Canberra requested an independent international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
Shortly afterwards, Beijing imposed heavy new restrictions on Australian grain, meat and wine.
