China's aggression with neighbours and foreign powers sparks World War 3 fear: Expert

Political expert Gordon Chang told Express that China could spark a global conflict if things escalate with Australia and its allies or any of its neighbouring countries.

He argued that Beijing has its back against the wall on the international stage and will in turn lash out to show it is strong.

Chang told Express: "Anything is possible at this point, Australia is an ally with the United States.

"They have an obligation to defend us and we have an obligation to defend them, the mutual defence treaty."

"That is one way that war could occur. Right now Beijing has this really nasty spat with Canberra and it started when Australia demanded an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19," he said.

He said he thinks China has a lot to hide and because of that China went on the offensive with Australia and relations have spiralled downward since then.

"This is Beijing feeling its back against the corner, it can't explain how the disease started," he said.

He even raised the issue of Xinjiang and said: "It can't defend crimes against humanity and genocide in what it calls Xinjiang."

Speaking on China's aggressive stance, he further said: "What those consequences are could be military, could be World War 3, it could be nothing. But this does look exceedingly dangerous right now."