Kevin Rudd has accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of inconsistency in his approach to Australia's relationship with China, saying it's the opposite of what's needed.
The former prime minister pointed out that as opposition leader Mr Turnbull would regularly attack him for apparently being too hostile towards China.
At the same time, he took what Mr Rudd believed was a "deeply accommodationist view" on matters such as political donations and the involvement of Chinese telco Huawei in the national broadband network.
"Now it seems, for a range of domestic political factors concerning (former Labor senator Sam) Dastyari and others, (Mr Turnbull has) lurched considerably in the reverse direction," Mr Rudd told ABC radio on Monday.
"It's consistency which is required over time, not simply a massive chop and change depending on the political circumstances."
But Trade Minister Steven Ciobo took an economic perspective in rebutting the former prime minister's assessment of an "incoherent and inconsistent" approach to China.
"Irrespective of the fact that from time to time we have trade irritants, both the Chinese government and the Australian government have a broad, deep and excellent relationship," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
"The relationship lay at the very core of why we were able to do such a high-quality China-Australia free trade agreement and why we were able to resolve issues like that around the export of Australian beef in a record amount of time."
Opposition frontbencher Amanda Rishworth joined Mr Rudd in saying the government needed to ensure Australia strengthened its relationship with China.
"I would encourage the government to make sure that they are constantly making sure they are looking after our country, our national interest right across the globe," she said.
Mr Rudd welcomed the appointment of US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris as the new American ambassador to Australia, saying he was someone who knew the wider region well.
But he cautioned that the Turnbull government faced difficulty in fully engaging with the US on security challenges in the region, particularly those involving China and North Korea, while always reflecting an Australian view.
