Hot on the heels of federal government claims that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would be “very happy” to see the Australian Labor Party (ALP) win the next election, the Chair of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Liberal Senator James Patterson, has launched another volley at the ALP Deputy Leader Richard Marles. On Feb. 14, Patterson posted in a thread on Twitter about a speech delivered by the ALP’s deputy leader Richard Marles in September 2019 to the Foreign Studies University, where Marles claimed defining Beijing as an enemy would be a “profound mistake.” In the speech, Marles, who was then-shadow minister for defence, offered a conciliatory tone around China’s relations with democratic nations and called for more military cooperation. “The vital work of deepening our two countries’ engagement must also include the strategic dimension of our relationship,” he said. “Our starting point has to be that we respect …