US, Australia and China policymakers must go beyond economic and defence concerns

The quest for economic security in the US, Australia and China coupled with defence concerns cannot be divorced from those setting policy agendas for the three countries, Deakin University's expert on the Asia-Pacific region Dr Ken Boutin will tell the Fulbright Symposium next month.

"Each country has its own plan for achieving economic security," he said.

"Yet the changing regional political and economic trends complicates their policy agendas.

"For instance sustained industrial technological development and deepening economic integration in China challenges the once interdependent relationships between the US, China and Australia.

"While similarly the political dynamism of the region means each country must focus on the implications each decision has on their own security."

US, Chinese tension due to clash of national identities

Clashing Chinese and US national identity is at the heart of the current tension between the two countries, Professor Gilbert Rozman from Princeton University in the US will tell the Fulbright Symposium next month.

Drawing from his two soon to be released books – East Asian National Identities: Commonalities and Differences and East Asian National Identity Gaps and the United States--, Professor Rozman will argue that the gap between China and the United States has been growing, especially due to recent Chinese demonization of the United States.

"Understanding how national identities are formed and how they clash is key to understanding how international relations are shaping up in Northeast Asia," he said.

"The end of the Cold War meant China and Russia faced immense challenges in dismantling socialist structures while preserving other aspects of society."

"This was critical in the formation of their national identity and also how they forged relationships in the region."

"The contrast between Chinese and US thinking about the region has grown starker as China talks about an exclusive East Asian Community while the US adopts a broader notion of community, aptly identified in Australia as the Asia-Pacific Community."