It’s rare for an Australian Prime Minister to quote from a classical Greek text and even rarer in the context of Australia’s relations with the US and China. But in his recent speech to a prominent US think tank in Washington, Malcolm Turnbull cited the great Athenian historian, Thucydides, in warning of the heightened risk of conflict when a rising power challenges the existing international order and the position of the previously dominant state – the so called Thucydides Trap.
In a clear reference to US-China relations, and the tensions being generated over China’s ambit claims to island territories and resources in the Western Pacific, Turnbull reminded Asia’s rising power that if it wants to be welcomed by the world then it must also work to reassure its neighbours that its intentions are good.
Unfortunately, China has abjectly failed Turnbull’s litmus test. In forcibly pressing its claims to reefs and islands in the South China Sea, Beijing has not only alienated many of its neighbours but also raised deep concerns about its ultimate intentions.