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Strategic Trends In The South China Sea/The East Sea And East Asia's Security Architecture: The View From Australia, Chris Rahman

Chris Rahman

Australia has several important security interests in the South China Sea. This paper will outline those interests and the policy responses to challenges to those interests. The first interest is in maintaining regional peace and stability and, in particular, avoiding conflict. Second, Australia has increasingly deep economic ties to both Southeast and Northeast Asia. Any conflict over the South China Sea could negatively impact those ties and the benefits derived from trade. Australia also has both direct and indirect economic and strategic interests in the continued security of South China Sea shipping; or sea lines of communication (SLOC). In a …