Recently, I was invited to Australia for a closed-door academic conference where scholars discussed the impact of China-US competition on the Asia-Pacific order and how regional countries are responding.
This 10-day trip deepened my understanding of Australia’s efforts to play a larger role amid geopolitical turbulence, especially regarding China-US tensions. I also noticed that the Australian strategic community’s resistance to China’s rising power might be overstated due to the influence of rhetoric from the US and the UK, indicating a hopeful outlook for future China-Australia relations.
First, some members of the Australian strategic community argue that China-US competition has intensified instability in the Asia-Pacific region, making it difficult for Australia to remain detached. With the US stirring great power competition and escalating tensions in China-US relations, Australian scholars openly acknowledge a growing reliance on their security alliance with the US.
Second, Australia is closely monitoring China’s increasing regional influence, particularly expressing concerns about China’s military modernization and maritime capabilities. Influenced by their own beliefs and Western narratives, some in Australia believe that China’s strategic objectives extend beyond its core interests in the Taiwan Straits, South China Sea and East China Sea, encompassing the broader Asia-Pacific maritime region. This misunderstanding, and even deliberate misinterpretation by certain forces, has led Australia to strengthen its strategic cooperation with the US, actively participating in initiatives like AUKUS and the Quad.
Third, Australia acknowledges that it has a deep relationship with China in the fields of economy and trade. It is also aware that mishandling relations with China will have a serious negative impact on the Australian economy. Unlike Washington, Canberra tends to believe that strengthening cooperation with China at the economic and trade level does not necessarily bring hidden dangers in “national security.” On the contrary, it is the “pan-politicization” and “pan-securitization” of economic issues that will harm Australia’s long-term interests. Therefore, the idea of “decoupling” or disengaging from trade with China is not widely supported in Australia.
Based on what I saw and heard during my stay in Australia, especially the exchanges and communications with relevant Australian people, I believe that China and Australia may start from the following aspects to promote the continued recovery and development of the current bilateral relationship.
First, strengthen the integration of economic cooperation and multilateral framework cooperation. China can deepen cooperation with Australia in non-sensitive areas such as green energy, technological innovation and infrastructure construction to reduce the impact of security differences on bilateral relations. In addition, in the multilateral cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, the two sides can actively promote dialogue and cooperation through platforms such as ASEAN and APEC.
Second, enhance people-to-people diplomacy and cultural exchanges. There are now some 1.4 million people with Chinese ancestry living in Australia and a large number of people are friendly and rational to China. People-to-people diplomacy can play a bridging role when the relationship between the two governments is relatively sluggish.
Third, deepen the China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue to timely check the bilateral relationship. Australia regards the US as a key ally, but the interests of the two sides on certain issues are not completely consistent. Therefore, while Australia is moving closer to the US, it still hopes to maintain cooperation with China in certain areas. China and Australia can deepen the existing dialogue mechanism, especially in the strategic and security fields.
In short, China-Australia relations are in a critical adjustment period. Although the two sides face challenges in some areas, there is still huge potential and space for cooperation. Both countries should properly handle differences with a constructive and pragmatic attitude, and push bilateral relations back on track.
GT
