Feel strongly about this letter, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. I refer to the article “Australia needs policies not point-scoring” ( May 13 ). In the closing week of our federal election campaign, Australians continue to fail to fully engage in in-depth discussion of the pressing issues now confronting us. Outside our domestic issues, perhaps the most pressing worry is the way this lacklustre election campaign is severely distorting the popular perception of our China policy and where that should be going in the wider context of the Indo-Pacific region. If the current tit-for-tat, point-scoring and sloganeering exchanges focused on the recent pact between China and the Solomon Islands are any guide, we are witnessing the dangerous spectacle of our two main political parties vying with each other for voter acceptance as the party with the better “tough on China” policy credentials. The recent sighting of a Chinese spy vessel in international waters off the coast of Western Australian has ensured that this remains a main election issue as we all go to the polls. What we need now if we are to protect our national interest without unnecessary military conflict with China is skilled diplomacy on the part of our top leadership in the handling of our China relationship, backed up by a level-headed and well-informed public discussion on how best to achieve this. As a starting point for this, we Australians need to come to terms with some historical realities in the Indo-Pacific region . It is important to realise that the current configuration of power and influence in the Indo-Pacific is the one imposed by conquest when the allies defeated Japan in the Pacific War. That Western ascendancy in our region is now under serious stress as a resurgent China mounts an assertive – but so far non-militarily aggressive – challenge to it. What is needed now is a rational and balanced discussion between China and the West on the basis of that reality to decide the best apportionment of power and influence in the region in line with the geopolitical realities at present. Let’s hope that Beijing can see our electioneering bluster for what it is, without mistaking those superficial campaign utterances for real policies when the election is over, and that stability in policymaking returns once again. Terry Hewton, Adelaide, Australia