Australians may miss out on opportunities to reinforce our regional security if they are over-concerned about Chinese aggression in the South Pacific and do not take the opportunity of engaging in regional dialogue to resolve common problems.

We should remember Starbuck’s advice to Captain Ahab and adjust our sails… “square the yards and make a fair win of it homewards, to go on a better voyage than this”.

Edward Sing Yue Chan of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific has spent several months studying China’s relations with the countries of the Pacific Forum. Chan, a maritime security scholar, argues in a recent article in Australian Outlook that there are advantages in engaging with China in discussions about ocean governance since this is a multilateral issue and involves complex matters such as climate change, disaster management and illegal fishing.

This government’s policy on relations with China has been clear and consistent since it was set out by Penny Wong in her Whitlam Oration at Western Sydney University on 13 November 2022. “We seek to co-operate where we can and will disagree where we must,” she said. Regarding security, she also said, “We will engage in our national interests” and “we won’t weaponise national security for political purposes”.

Chan has spent considerable time in China and has visited Fiji and the Solomon Islands to listen to the views of officials and academics. He notes that “many countries in the region are weary of every issue being viewed through the lens of national security and are hesitant to choose sides between the US and China”. Since the Trump administration’s withdrawal of aid, Australia is presented with an increased urgency for dialogue with our neighbours on a range of practical issues affecting us all.

Astonishingly, one of our pre-eminent maritime security gurus, Anthony Bergin, has chosen to weigh in, labelling Chan a “China apologist”. Bergin states that dialogue with China is impossible. He writes in an opinion piece published in The Australian on 31 March, that dialogue is absolutely inadvisable because “as far as China is concerned, our role in engaging with it on maritime security is to listen, not speak”. He extends his spray to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the expert speakers who participated in last month’s Sovereignty and Security Forum in Canberra, calling Turnbull irresponsible. (The presentations at the Forum were recorded and are available on YouTube.)

Bergin states that it is irresponsible to “play politics with the US alliance in an election campaign”. I have to disagree. Bergin should remember what Wong said in the Senate on 3 June last year, when she was asked to articulate what Australia’s national interests are. “Assuring our security, our prosperity and our economic security,” Wong responded. She then mentioned a range of broad interests, including the multilateral system, rules and norms, dealing with disputes, and the US alliance. “I don’t know that you could do an exhaustive list,” she said, “but fundamentally it is about ensuring and assuring that Australia is safe, secure and prosperous in the world.”

These days no-one feels safe, secure and prosperous. Trump seems to be following Mao Zedong’s philosophy of Continuous Revolution, and echoing Mao’s words at the outset of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos: the situation is excellent." Public surveys show Australians are all concerned about their finances, the possibility of economic depression and the future of the US alliance. Never has it been more urgent to take active measures to secure our regional security and to engage in dialogue with China.

The Australia-China Foreign and Security Dialogue resumed in 2024 after a break of several years and the 23rd Defence Strategic Dialogue was held in Beijing in February. According to the Department of Defence, discussions covered bilateral, global and regional security issues, military transparency and communication. It seems bilateral differences and tensions can be managed. Long may it remain that way.

I recommend that Bergin and his security colleagues re-read Moby Dick and reflect on the consequences of obsessive pursuit and hubris in their anti-China complex.