Australian and Southeast Asian Perspectives on China’s Military Modernization

Abstract

China’s rapid military modernization has elicited a variety of responses from governments in the region. This article looks at the responses from Australia and two ASEAN states: Indonesia and Singapore. These states have been chosen because they have little or no territorial disputes with China that might influence their attitude towards China’s military modernization. This article argues that China’s military modernization is not driven solely by the pursuit of national reunification but has more to do with the nature of Sino-US competition and China’s ambition to eventually replace the United States as the dominant power in the region. It is this competition that provides the rationale for..