The former Labor leader rang alarm bells on the coming five years, saying they're critical in order to avoid an armed conflict not seen "since the Second World War" in a speech at an Australian National University even in Canberra on Monday night.

Dr Rudd cautioned Australia cannot afford to look at its relations with China in isolation from future US elections and policies, which has inevitably shaped the relationship in recent years.

"Whether we like it or not, we are now in the midst of this competitive race," he said.

"We now live, therefore, in dangerous times."

A mission statement by Chinese president Xi Jinping setting out to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by 2049 could result in Taiwan falling under the control of the mainland, Dr Rudd suggested in an earlier draft version of the speech.

But Dr Rudd did not shy away from outlining the Chinese leader's intentions.

"It would be foolish to conclude, at least from the Chinese perspective, that Xi Jinping has therefore shelved his aspiration to retake Taiwan," he said.

"Nothing could be further from the truth."

With the US and its like-minded partners having no "strategic guardrails" in recent years, Dr Rudd said a war "by accident" had been, and still remained, a very real prospect.

To prevent a devastating conflict, the former prime minister said competition with the powerhouse had to be managed carefully before the decade's end.

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Dr Rudd also said he predicts President Xi will "take action" on Taiwan, while he's still in power, sometime in the late 2020s or in 2030s.

"If we fail to navigate the next five years carefully, there is a grave risk that by the late 20s and the early 30s, we could well find ourselves on the cusp of armed conflict," he said.

Megaphone diplomacy undertaken by the former Coalition government had, in contrast to his recommendations, worked to undermine the relationship's stability.

Dr Rudd used his speech to praise Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for their efforts in unfreezing the diplomatic lines to China, allowing discussions to once again begin.

But he added the work ahead would be "formidable" amid ongoing trade sanctions against Australian industry and the continued imprisonment of Australian nationals, including journalist Cheng Lei.