Australia’s allies need to help it stand up to China or risk being ‘picked off’ too, former Hong Kong governor warns

Chris Patten says Communist party trying to hammer Australia' with trade actions in order to set an example for other countries

Australia needs help from governments around the world to resist the most extreme example of coercive, commercial" pressure from China, otherwise those countries will be picked off" in the same way, the last British governor of Hong Kong has said.

Chris Patten, the governor from 1992 to until the handover to China in 1997, also told the Guardian he was extremely sad" about the crackdown in Hong Kong this year and believed it reflected a change in character of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) under Xi Jinping's leadership.