Abstract
China-Australia relations have deteriorated in recent years, with distrust and threat narratives concerning the South Pacific region contributing to Western discourse on the risks of the Belt and Road Initiative. A geopolitical framework of analysis tends to overlook the agency of the small island nations in the region and to focus on Australia, as the dominant regional power and proxy for the US hegemony in the broader Indo-Pacific, pitted against the growing power of China. This chapter analyses the geopolitical narratives to comprehend whether Australia and China are destined to compete for power, or whether the geopolitical imperatives of both could be satisfied—as well as risks reduced and opportunities for regional sustainable development realised—through mutually beneficial cooperation.KeywordsChina-Australia relationsSouth Pacific regionIndo-PacificGeopolitical imperatives
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