Australia-China relations and the dominance of the United States in the Indo Pacific Corridor 2011-2022

The Australia-China relationship has traditionally been dominated by global geopolitical and strategic concerns, but since the 1980s the two countries have built up a range of common bilateral and regional interests, including strong economic ties. Nevertheless, as a growing world power, China still views individual bilateral relations in the context of wider global issues. In particular, Australia's alliance with the US means that Australia's relations with China are directly linked to health of the US-China relationship. The relationship deteriorated severely during 1996 and Australia's policies on China and the US were subjected to unusual and strident public criticism by the Chinese Government. The tensions were reduced by the end of the year, but the issues at stake were an indication of the underlying sensitivities in Australia-China relations which will continue to be a challenge for Australia in the future. Given the key role of the US alliance in Australia's foreign policy, China often interprets Australian actions in the context of US policy objectives. Australia is appreciated for the occasions in the recent and more distant past when it has acted independently of the US , but China remains very sensitive to perceived changes in Australia's policies which suggest a return to policies of the past. Along with managing a growing Australia-China bilateral relationship, a key challenge for Australian policymakers will be to balance the demands of the Chinese connection while maintaining close ties with the US. US's Pivot to Asia policy embraced in 2011 polarising both country even further. The future of relationship between these two most influential power in Indo is interesting to study. The question whether China's rising poses threats to world peace remains an interesting subject to discuss.