Must Australia choose between trade with China and siding with US on Hong Kong, South China Sea?

Name: Pompeo urges all nations to 'push back' against China on visit to the UK
Uploaded: 2020-07-29T23:00:24.000Z
Duration: 1 min 17 s
Description: Pompeo urges all nations to 'push back' against China on visit to the UK

Canberra has signalled it will not join Washington in a new cold war with Beijing – sceptics wonder if it has any alternative

Australia is one of America’s staunchest security allies, but alienating its largest trade partner would cost it dear

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Australian and Japanese forces joined the US Navy for recent exercises in the South China Sea. Photo: Handout

John Power

Published: 7:00am, 30 Jul 2020Updated: 8:25pm, 30 Jul 2020

When US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week called for the formation of an unspecified “alliance of democracies” to counter China, Australia was among the countries he probably had in mind.

This week, Australia’s top diplomat and defence official made it clear Canberra would not march in lock-step with its treaty ally – even as they joined their US counterparts to emphasise common interests and issue some of their strongest criticisms of Beijing.

While the allies would work together on the basis of “shared values”, Australia made its “own decisions”, Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said on Tuesday, after Payne and Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds wrapped up annual talks with Pompeo and US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper.

Notably, Payne was explicit about Canberra’s hope for constructive relations with Beijing, its largest trading partner – a stark contrast with Pompeo’s recent declaration that US engagement with China had been a failed experiment.

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Pompeo urges all nations to 'push back' against China on visit to the UK

The relationship “we have with China is important, and we have no intention of injuring it, but nor do we intend to do things that are contrary to our interests”, Payne said.

The outcome of the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation (AUSMIN) reflected the delicate balance Canberra is seeking to strike as it takes a tougher line on China’s increasingly assertive moves in the region, while keeping its distance from the Trump administration’s most hawkish policies and rhetoric.

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