Leading strategic scholars have backed what they say is a hard-headed and realistic new foreign policy blueprint, with one expert saying the strong security focus is "a sign of the times".
As the Turnbull government released its foreign policy white paper, its pledges to do more to support United States leadership in Asia were underscored by the announcement that American long-range B-1B bombers were arriving in Australia for a two-week rotation.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia would resist protectionism and nationalism, and uphold the system of international rules that have allowed decades of prosperity in Asia, while warning "we cannot take any of it for granted".
"The rules, norms and institutions that enable freedom and opportunity have been painfully difficult to build. Australians know this, because we have contributed to the building of so many of them. But they are easy to break," he said.
The paper warns that Australia's neighbourhood faces unprecedented change amid China's growing clout and tacitly warns of a tendency towards bullying by great powers including China.
Fairfax Media understands Chinese officials who were briefed on the paper before its release did not react badly.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was due to host Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye and a Chinese delegation on Friday for the fourth Australia-China High Level Dialogue meeting in Melbourne.
Defence Minister Marise Payne meanwhile announced that two US B-1B bombers would take part in training at RAAF base Amberley in Queensland over the next fortnight. The exercise is part of the existing agreement with the US that has already seen thousands of marines and some Raptor stealth bombers rotate through Darwin. The new white paper indicates this type of American military presence may be expanded as part of an effort to better support the US in Asia.
Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong largely supported the paper while questioning the government's commitment to climate action and foreign aid. On China, she said: "My view is we invest in the relationship, we seek to work together as much as we are able and we are prepared to stand up for our interests and our values."
Rory Medcalf, the head of the Australian National University's National Security College, said the paper read more like a national security statement.
"But I think that's a sign of the times," he said.
He and others broadly backed the paper's premise that Australia could help by supporting US leadership while also reaching out to other like-minded countries to nudge China towards upholding the rules-based system.
Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, welcomed the stronger emphasis on working with countries such as Japan, India, Indonesia and South Korea.
"There's a much stronger emphasis on working with like-minded democracies ??? That's the most positive part of the document," he said.
Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, said the paper took "a clear-eyed and somewhat bracing view of the world we face".
Referring to the fact that the challenge implicit in the paper was to encourage the US to maintain its traditional leadership role and China to back the rules-based order, Dr Fullilove said: "Really it's in the nature of a deal to hedge against a reckless China and a feckless US."
John Blaxland, a security scholar at the ANU, said the paper was "a pretty good document overall".
But he warned countries such as Japan and India would not necessarily be helpful security partners to Australia. Japan was "demographically and economically on a downward trajectory" while India had "a long tradition of being non-aligned and playing its own cards".
He also said Australia should demonstrate its greater commitment to south-east Asia by doing more to help with the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.
