{"id":48830,"date":"2019-07-03T11:33:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T01:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=48830"},"modified":"2019-07-03T11:36:49","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T01:36:49","slug":"why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

US strategic competition with China has triggered considerable debate about the implications for Australia. Thus far, commentators have judged US President Donald Trump\u2019s approach towards China and the Indo-Pacific mostly negatively. Some analysts have feared a general decline of US leadership and willingness to defend its allies against potentially hostile Asian powers like China. They have called for a \u2018radical rethink<\/a>\u2019 of Australia\u2019s defence policy and the need to prepare for a \u2018post-US\u2019 regional order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For some, Australia should adopt\u00a0a strategy of \u2018armed neutrality<\/a>\u2019 to deal with an emerging China-dominated region and a US\u00a0unwilling to defend its allies.\u00a0Since Australia will soon be \u2018without America<\/a>\u2019, it must develop a truly self-reliant defence policy.<\/p>\n

For others, Trump\u2019s \u2018pushback\u2019 against China is seen as economically damaging<\/a>\u00a0for Australia or, worse, risks dragging Canberra into unwanted US-led wars in Asia<\/a>. They have also criticised Trump\u2019s China policy as a move towards \u2018containment\u2019 and a \u2018new Cold War\u2019<\/a>, and thus incompatible with Australian interests. Some have even proposed getting closer to Beijing<\/a> because uncertain US strategy towards China \u2018will invite hostility from our most important trading partner\u2019.<\/p>\n

In contrast, I argue in the Australian Journal of International Affairs<\/em><\/a> that the new era of US\u2013China strategic competition is positive for Australia, and that calls for a major shift in Australia\u2019s security alignment and defence posture are\u00a0unwarranted.\u00a0Claims that the\u00a0Trump\u00a0presidency means America will cut strategic engagement in the Indo-Pacific and\u00a0abandon\u00a0its Australian ally stand on very shaky\u00a0ground.<\/p>\n

The evidence strongly suggests that the US under Trump\u00a0has not\u00a0abandoned\u00a0its long-standing tradition<\/a> of resisting any major challenger to its Pacific interests.\u00a0Using a hybrid strategy mix of \u2018collective balancing\u2019 and \u2018comprehensive pressure\u2019<\/a>, the Trump administration has pushed back against China in the normative, economic, technological and military domains.<\/p>\n

The implementation of the pushback has not been without flaws. For instance, while the US government has emphasised the ideological component of US\u2013China competition, the messaging has been far from persuasive. In particular, recent suggestions by a senior US State Department official about a \u2018clash of civilisations\u2019 were unhelpful and rightly rejected<\/a>\u00a0by the Australian government.<\/p>\n

Moreover, as Hal Brands<\/a> points out, Trump\u2019s unilateral tendencies risk leading the US onto a path towards becoming an \u2018unexceptional superpower\u2019. As well, Trump\u2019s trade war against China and its potential negative fallout for the Australian economy are of concern in Canberra. Finally, effective US competition with China depends on closer cooperation with allies. But Trump\u2019s personal treatment of close allies such as Japan and South Korea often complicates such efforts.<\/p>\n

Still, these risks are outweighed by the benefits. For Australia, the prevention of a Sino-centric regional order and continued US leadership in the Indo-Pacific remain key strategic interests. Before Trump took office, many in the Australian strategic community criticised his predecessor Barack Obama for failing to employ a tougher response against China\u2019s assertiveness. Washington has now shifted gears towards comprehensive strategic competition with China, so some degree of disruption is inevitable. Still, there is no evidence of US containment policies against China and concerns about a \u2018new Cold War\u2019 in Asia are unwarranted<\/a>. Likewise, there is no evidence that the administration is accommodating China or looking for a \u2018great bargain<\/a>\u2019 with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Instead, I agree with Peter Jennings<\/a> that the administration\u2019s recent \u2018Indo-Pacific strategy\u2019<\/a> and other policy documents provide a good framework for the US and like-minded allies such as Australia to increase cooperation in working towards maintaining key elements of a stable, rules-based Indo-Pacific order. In fact, there are no indicators that the ANZUS alliance is in trouble as a result of Trump.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, the November 2018 announcement of US cooperation with Australia and Papua New Guinea in the modernisation of the Lombrum naval base<\/a> on Manus Island can be seen as a mutual pushback against China\u2019s ambitions in the South Pacific. Similarly, the continued build-up of US Marine rotational deployments through Darwin and the first-ever written US nuclear extended guarantee to Australia<\/a> demonstrate a strengthening of America\u2019s defence commitment<\/a>, rather than a weakening. So do reports<\/a> about the prospect of a new port outside Darwin to facilitate greater Australia\u2013US military cooperation.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the bipartisan consensus in Washington about a stronger line against China provides a level of consistency and predictability of US strategic engagement in the region beyond Trump. Indeed, the obsession with the president himself overlooks the key roles of the Congress, as well as the foreign and security bureaucracies in underwriting a sustained pushback against China. They also form an important brake on some of Trump\u2019s counterproductive impulses in dealing with allies and partners.<\/p>\n

The shift in US China strategy broadly aligns with Australia\u2019s own re-evaluation of its relationship with Beijing. Australia\u2019s \u2018reset<\/a>\u2019 or \u2018reality check<\/a>\u2019 in its relations with China was well underway before Trump took office. The government shares assessments that China has become more authoritarian and won\u2019t liberalise, that it aims to undermine the regional security order and that its influence operations in Australia pose a significant challenge.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan consensus has also emerged in Canberra about the need to push back against some elements of Chinese behaviour. This is evident, for instance, in Australia\u2019s leadership on new foreign influence and interference laws, and in persuading its US ally<\/a> to follow its example in banning Huawei from its 5G network over security concerns.<\/p>\n

While the Trump administration\u2019s new course on China creates some uncertainty, Australia should welcome a long-overdue correction of US policy. Consequently, a major realignment of Australia\u2019s security and defence policy isn\u2019t required. Indeed, those frequently claiming US abandonment of the Indo-Pacific region and its allies fail to provide substantial evidence for those claims. And greater strategic competition between the US and China makes such a scenario even less likely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US strategic competition with China has triggered considerable debate about the implications for Australia. Thus far, commentators have judged US President Donald Trump\u2019s approach towards China and the Indo-Pacific mostly negatively. Some analysts have feared …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":48832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,17,52,1428,31],"class_list":["post-48830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-alliance-2","tag-australia","tag-china","tag-donald-trump","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US strategic competition with China has triggered considerable debate about the implications for Australia. Thus far, commentators have judged US President Donald Trump\u2019s approach towards China and the Indo-Pacific mostly negatively. Some analysts have feared ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-03T01:33:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-03T01:36:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"927\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"718\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Benjamin Schreer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Benjamin Schreer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg\",\"width\":927,\"height\":718},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/\",\"name\":\"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-03T01:33:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-03T01:36:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/fb416ef1554198fd936ce89be4d308cb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/fb416ef1554198fd936ce89be4d308cb\",\"name\":\"Benjamin Schreer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425f49ce831fd83752dbb55b00e81758?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425f49ce831fd83752dbb55b00e81758?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Benjamin Schreer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/benjamin-schreer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist","og_description":"US strategic competition with China has triggered considerable debate about the implications for Australia. Thus far, commentators have judged US President Donald Trump\u2019s approach towards China and the Indo-Pacific mostly negatively. Some analysts have feared ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2019-07-03T01:33:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-03T01:36:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":927,"height":718,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Benjamin Schreer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Benjamin Schreer","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/0307trumpximorrison.jpg","width":927,"height":718},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/","name":"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-07-03T01:33:16+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-03T01:36:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/fb416ef1554198fd936ce89be4d308cb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-strategic-competition-between-the-us-and-china-is-good-for-australia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why strategic competition between the US and China is good for Australia"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/fb416ef1554198fd936ce89be4d308cb","name":"Benjamin Schreer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425f49ce831fd83752dbb55b00e81758?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425f49ce831fd83752dbb55b00e81758?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Benjamin Schreer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/benjamin-schreer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48830"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48835,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48830\/revisions\/48835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}