Australia urged strong engagement of the United States in Asia and called Washington to bolster ties with like-minded partners, but it also warned against China’s rising influence. The Australian government published a 115-page foreign policy white paper on Thursday and emphasized that a more insular United States would be detrimental to the liberal nature of the world’s “rules-based order,” Reuters reports.
“In the post-Second World War period, we have benefited significantly from an international order shaped by U.S. power and global leadership. U.S. leadership has supported global security, including through the network of U.S. alliances and the U.S. military presence in Asia and Europe. Australia believes that international challenges can only be tackled effectively when the world’s wealthiest, most innovative and most powerful country is engaged in solving them,” the paper, which is a guide for Australian diplomacy and provides a road-map for advancing its interests, says.
The government also says that strong and sustained U.S. engagement in the international system remained fundamental to international stability and prosperity.
“Without such engagement, the effectiveness and liberal character of the international order would erode,” the paper adds.
According to the Australians, the economic growth and the power that the U.S. enjoyed since the end of WWII is now being challenged by China. Australia warns of risks it faces, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region because of a shift in the balance of power. It also said that the South China Sea is a major fault line in the regional order and it added that it was concerned by the unprecedented pace and scale of China’s land reclamation and construction activities in the disputed waters. Earlier this year Australia rejected high-profile Chinese investments, citing national interest and that was the reason why the relations between the two countries sank to a low point.
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