China has nothing to gain by strong-arming its way in the Asia-Pacific, the Australian prime minister said on Friday, warning that a “coercive” Beijing would only face resentment in the region.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking at a regional security conference in Singapore, said it was inevitable that China play a bigger regional role to match its rising economic weight, but cautioned against threatening its smaller neighbors.
Turnbull’s address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense and security summit, follows China’s moves to build a series of artificial islands on shoals and reefs in the South China Sea, which has sparked concern among its neighbors.
Beijing claims almost the entire sea, pitting it against Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
“A coercive China would find its neighbors resenting demands they cede their autonomy and strategic space and look to counterweight Beijing’s power by bolstering alliances and partnerships, between themselves and especially with the US,” Turnbull said.
“Just as modern China was founded in 1949 on an assertion of national sovereignty, so will 21st century China best succeed by respecting the sovereignty of others and in so doing build a reservoir of trust and cooperation with its neighbors,” he added.
Turnbull also urged Beijing to help bring North Korea “to its senses” and exercise its influence over Pyongyang.
On Monday, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile, its 12th this year.
“The North Korean regime, the Pyongyang government, is endangering the peace of the region and indeed the peace of the world by conduct that is persistently reckless, dangerous and indeed unlawful,” Turnbull said.
Turnbull also said that countries in the region should not see US President Donald Trump’s recent decisions to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact and the Paris climate agreement as disengagement from the global community.
“While these decisions are disappointing, we should take care not to rush to interpret an intent to engage on different terms as one not to engage at all,” he said.
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