Australia's Geopolitics and the South China Sea

Abstract

This chapter looks at Australia's geopolitical concern, which has been the security of the northern approaches that is stressed by a series of defence white papers. It mentions the Australian governments' emphasis on the importance of a “rules-based order” in the Indo-Pacific and how they are disturbed by the Chinese activities in the South China Sea (SCS) that undermine this order and create uncertainty to Australia's north. It also cites Australia's dilemma in dealing with the issue since China is its major trade partner and has contributed to Australia's economic growth. The chapter discusses how China's SCS activities have quickened Australia's understanding of its geopolitical predicament and have compelled it to adjust to an uncertain security environment, which the country has avoided for too long. It reviews China's behaviour in the SCS dispute as acting against everything that Australia's Defence and Foreign Affairs Departments have been promoting within the region.