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Is there room for Australia in Asia?

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In Brief

During the Cold War, Australia’s engagement with Asia was largely governed by its ethno-historical affiliation with the West. A case in point was Australia’s membership of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), which was governed by the United States’ global security calculus.

More recent Australian engagements with Asia, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq, have also unfolded under the US security umbrella.

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However, the end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the Asian strategic space, and Australia is now increasingly faced with the challenge to to engage with Asia independent of the West.

The rapid economic development in Asia in the post-Cold War period has resulted in new demand bases for Australian natural resources. In 2009, China, Japan, South Korea and India accounted for around 56 per cent of Australia’s overall exports. Asian countries are also quickly emerging as suppliers to Australia and in that same year, 38 per cent of Australia’s imports came from China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. The share of Asian countries in Australian trade is going to increase further as the major Asian economies are likely to enjoy higher growth rates than the West and also because Australia is entering into fair trade agreements (FTAs) with some Asian countries.

The sizeable proportion of Asians in the Australian population and an increase in educational, sporting and cultural ties are further indicators of a strong relationship between Asia and Australia.

Currently, Asians — primarily Chinese, Arabs and Vietnamese — account for around 7 per cent of Australia’s population. This number is likely to increase due to Australia’s relatively generous immigration laws, higher per capita income and the higher population growth rate of the earlier Asian migrants.

Australia attracts thousands of students from Asia annually, strengthening the position of education as the country’s second largest services export sector. Australia also has extensive sporting ties with South Asia; almost every cricket team participating in the Indian Premier League hosts an Australian player. Australia is a popular location for shooting Bollywood films. Asian tourists already outnumber Western tourists to Australia, and in turn Asia receives a large number of Australian tourists.

In light of this, one wonders if there is room for Australia to play a greater strategic role in Asia. The United States’ half-hearted engagement with Asia is generating a vacuum that Australia can partly occupy. In an earlier contribution to this Forum, I had suggested that channels of inter-state communication are scarce in Asia, with the United States serving as one of the most important channels. Ideally, Australia is a country that can complement the United States in this regard. There are a number of reasons for this:

Australia is located at a safe distance from Asia and has therefore not been involved in conventional conflicts with Asian countries. It is not identified with any particular ethnic community in Asia. Unlike European countries, it is not weighed down by colonial baggage. It does not have expansionist designs but is capable of holding its own. It is not a claimant to a seat in an expanded Security Council. Emerging Asian powers will not want to strain their relationships with resource-rich Australia. Australia does not have a local rival in its immediate neighbourhood that would go out of its way to limit its strategic rise. Australia need not start from scratch as it has long played an important role in Oceania. Its involvement in the stabilisation of micro-states in its neighbourhood, particularly Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, is a case in point. Also noteworthy is the speed with which it responded to the Timor and 2004 tsunami crises.

In short, Australia can play a greater strategic role in Asia. It is not going to be hindered in this regard by geopolitical or capacity constraints and will, in fact, be supported by the already strong economic ties and growing people-to-people bonds.

Vikas Kumar is an independent researcher based in Bangalore.

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