Legislation recently passed in China allows the country’s military to do things which are “in my view, acts of war”, says Liberal Senator Jim Molan.

His comments come after China passed laws which give coastguard the power to fire on foreign vessels.

Sky News host Chris Smith noted Beijing then 24 hours later flew nuclear equipped war bombers over Taiwanese airspace.

Mr Molan said these moves demonstrate China has “ratcheted this up”.

“They’re putting a bit of pressure on President Biden,” he said.

“The big question is how far are they going to push it. They didn’t have to pass that legislation.”

Mr Molan said the legislation also allowed Chinese military to do a “large number of other things” which are “in my view, acts of war”.

“The probability of war, I think it is not just possible … but it’s much more likely than most people are talking about.”