China wants to 'displace the United States' and 'set the rules' for the Indo-Pacific

The University of Melbourne’s Professor Michael Wesley says former Prime Minister Paul Keating “might be right” about his assertion China poses no threat to Australia but might to our ally, the United States.

“Mr Keating might be right that China poses no direct threat, direct military threat to Australia,” Professor Wesley told Sky News Australia.

“The question we must ask is what are China’s goals in our particular part of the world, and I think the answer to that is relatively clear that China wants to displace the United States.”

Professor Wesley said China wants to push America “out of the Pacific” but if this is done, China will be “setting the rules” for the region and is unclear if Australia would be able to accept this.

“There’s many people in Australia with justification who would suggest that would be an uncomfortable situation for Australia to be in, particularly when you see the way China has behaved in the South China Sea,” he said.

“I think there is a pattern of Chinese behaviour here that means a Chinese-dominated region order would be a very uncomfortable situation for us and other countries in this part of the world.”