US and Australia grow apart on China, behind the smiles and handshakes
- Donald Trump is laying out the welcome mat for Australian PM Scott Morrison’s first official trip, as the allies talk up the strength of their 1951 defence pact
- But experts say Canberra has not bought in to Washington’s labelling of Beijing as a rival and military threat, and is feeling the trade war’s effects
Morrison’s invitation to a state dinner at the White House on Friday puts him in the company of just one other leader, French President Emmanuel Macron, to receive such an honour during the Trump administration.
But behind the smiles and handshakes, analysts say the two leaders will have to confront a growing divide between the staunch allies – who share a commitment to collective security under a 1951 defence pact – on how to approach China’s increasingly assertive presence on the global stage.
Hugh White, a professor at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at Australian National University in Canberra, said the allies were facing the “biggest disagreement over fundamental strategic perceptions and objectives” in the history of their alliance, in which each member is committed to recognising an attack on the other in the Pacific as a threat to its own peace and security.
“Over the past two years, while Canberra has talked up the alliance as ‘100 years of mateship’, a wide and growing gap has developed between Washington and Canberra over China,” White said.