Australia’s Response toward Sino-American Scramble at South Pacific
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Tsai, Yu-Chen
Abstract
When it comes to the power scramble between China and the U.S., the literature shows that the U.S. always comes back to those regions where China has expanded into. For example, we can see fierce competitions between the U.S. and China at Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
In the face of power scramble at their own land, regional powers all take certain strategies in order to respond toward China or the U.S. Take Singapore and Indonesia for instances, they prefer“hedging”between the U.S. and China. While African powers like South Africa and Nigeria have taken totally different stands; South Africa is on the side of the U.S., while Nigeria is very loyal toward China. The study concludes that the strategy which regional countries take is determined by several factors, including historical power structure at the region, geography, whether China is strong enough to compete with America, and bilateral relationship between regional states and China/U.S.
However, no literature has examined the power scramble at the South Pacific region; neither do we know how the regional power responds to China or the U.S. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the South Pacific region and examines all details of competition between China and America. Moreover, the thesis will analyze how the regional power—Australia responds to China and the U.S.
Chapter two is about the relationship between China and South Pacific countries. China engages with the region because of three reasons: fighting for natural resources, uniting Taiwan and deteriorating western influence. In terms of methods, China is good at employing “visit diplomacy” and “forum diplomacy” to enhance relationship with ocenia islands. In addition, China also takes a lot of efforts to sign bilateral military treaties with south pacific countries. In terms of economic strategies, China often invests in natural resources exploration and helps them to explore industrial zones and business harbors. Building infrastructure is also a very common aid strategy of China in the region. In one word, China is a great power in terms of politics and economic aid. And it is a potential great economic power at the South Pacific region. Military is the weakest field where China still can not compete with the U.S. and Australia.
Chapter three is about the relationship between the U.S. and the South pacific countries. First of all, I describe the strategic importance of the region for the U.S. during the Cold War. Then I examine why and how the U.S. faded out from the region. Nevertheless, the U.S. came back in 2007 and started to have competition with China in the fields of politics and military. For example, the U.S retook ownership of regional organizations, and built embassies at Palau and Fiji. Furthermore, the U.S. has been eager to enhance the deployment at Guam base and held several military drills with Australia and Japan. The U.S. influence in terms of economic power and aid strategy is restricted to “Free Associated countries.”
Chapter four is about how Australia responds to Sino-American scramble at the region. The study shows that Australia took countermeasures in order to contain China politically. In 2009, Australia asked Beijing to call off its visit to Fiji. Other than that, most reponses from Australia are indirectly aimed to contain or balance China. For example, Australia started to patch its relationship with several countries like Solomon Islands and Samoa. Also, Australia held military drills with the U.S. and Japan. While in the field of economic aid, Australia made several policy shifts on aid strategy toward the South pacifc countries. With all these reponses, we can see Australia’s desire to ensure its hegemonic status at the region.
Compared to other regions, power scramble between the U.S. and China is less fierce at the South Pacific. However, the thesis shows that China and Australia have several disputes at the region, which might influence their bilateral relations in the future.
Subjects
South Pacific region
Power scramble
Sino-American relations
Sino-Australia relations
U.S.-Australia relations
Type
thesis
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