Morrison calls for US and China to act in global interest

Scott Morrison has vowed Australia will not stand by ‘passively’ as China and the US slug it out in a global power contest.

Scott Morrison in Perth on Monday. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison has vowed Australia will not stand by “passively” as China and the US slug it out in a global power contest, and he will act in Australia’s security and economic interests if the superpower relationship continues to deteriorate.

In a blunt assessment of the strategic situation before he heads to Osaka for a G20 meeting of world leaders, the Prime Minister will today warn that the collateral damage from the trade clash and strategic struggle is spreading through the region.

Asserting Australia’s growing influence as a middle power, Mr Morrison will call on both countries to act in the global interest and not just their own, urging them to de-escalate tensions as other countries seek to rebalance their own interests in the face of a new world order.

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While making a deliberate show of support for the US position, suggesting it had a legitimate issue with China, Mr Morrison will call for a balanced approach to resolving the dispute, saying both nations have an obligation to ­exercise power responsibly.

“This will require the exercise of special responsibilities by these great powers to resist a narrow view of their interests,” Mr Morrison will say today in his first foreign policy speech since the election. “The United States has ­demonstrated an understanding that the responsibilities of great power are exercised in their ­restraint, freely subjecting itself to higher order rules, their accommodation of other interests and their benevolence.

“As a rising global power, China also now has additional ­responsibilities.

“It is therefore important that US-China trade tensions are ­resolved in the broader context of their special power responsibilities, in a way that is WTO consistent and does not undermine the interests of other parties, including Australia.

“And it is not inevitable that competition leads to conflict.”

Mr Morrison will deliver the speech before he flies to Japan ­tomorrow for the G20, where US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet. The outcome of the meeting will weigh heavily on global economic growth expectations. Already both leaders have signalled a willingness to discuss ways to avoid an escalation of hostilities, with officials due to hold talks ahead of the two-day summit starting on Friday. Mr Morrison was optimistic that the dispute could be resolved and rejected the “fatalist” view that the row meant conflict was inevitable.

However, he warned that countries in the Indo-Pacific region would seek to protect their interests amid uncertainty. He signalled that Australia would seek to strengthen ties in the region and cited Japan, India, Vietnam, ­Indonesia, Singapore and Papua New Guinea as like-minded countries looking to adjust under a new “dynamic”.

“We should not just sit back and passively await our fate in the wake of a major power contest,” Mr Morrison will say. “There are practical steps that we can pursue. So we will play our part. We will not be passive bystanders.

“Our approach will be based on key principles: a commitment to open markets with trade relationships based on rules, not coercion; an approach which builds resilience and sovereignty; respect for international law and the resolution of disputes peacefully, without the threat or use of coercive power. So we won’t be fazed, ­intimidated or fatalistic.”

Mr Morrison will say that the US attained its global power legitimately by exercising it responsibly and he expected China would do the same.

“While we will be clear-eyed that our political differences will affect aspects of our engagement, we are determined that our relationship not be dominated by areas of disagreement,” Mr Morrison will say.

“The decisions we make in relation to China are based solely on our national interests, just as theirs are towards Australia, and these are sometimes hard calls to make.”

Mr Morrison strongly rejects the push within domestic strategic and defence circles that China should be contained, but will say China as a significant power has equal responsibilities.

“The impact of any further ­deterioration of the relationship will not be limited to these two major powers,” he will say.

“The balance between strategic engagement and strategic competition in the US-China relationship has shifted.”

Mr Morrison will argue that China’s conscious decision to pursue prosperity as a strategy for ­national unity and stability had launched one of the world’s ­greatest economic miracles, but will also acknowledge the “legitimate” concerns towards Beijing’s behaviour.

“Now China is a significant ­global power, with vast military, global interests and the biggest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity,” he will say. “However, the ground has now shifted. It is now evident that the US believes that the rule-based trading system — in its current form — is not capable of dealing with China’s economic structure and policy practices. Many of these concerns are legitimate.

“But these are not insurmountable obstacles.”