Liberal Senator James Paterson says Australia must be realistic about the possibility of conflict with China but has insisted it should not be encouraged.

Senator Paterson’s comments come after former defence minister Christopher Pyne told the University of Adelaide that the nation and its allies could be brought into a war with China amid tensions with Taiwan.

Mr Pyne suggested it could be a reality in the next five to 10 years.

“I think we should be sober and realistic about these possibilities. They are of course possibilities,” Mr Paterson told Sky News.

“It’s not something that we want to entertain or encourage in any way. In fact I think it’s really important that we have a sufficient deterrent effect to dissuade that kind of thing from happening.

“Sometimes the Chinese Communist Party uses the threat of war with Taiwan to try and get pre-emptive concessions from the West,” he said.

“We shouldn’t allow them to use that prospect to intimidate us into doing things that we otherwise wouldn’t do.”