Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said competition between the US and China was one of the most important factors shaping the Indo-Pacific and urged the two countries not to view the region as a chessboard for great-power moves.
Albanese outlined Australia’s foreign policy in a speech at the Atlantic Council gala dinner in New York. Saying that how Washington and Beijing manage their relationship was of great importance, Albanese stated that the Indo-Pacific could not be viewed solely through the lens of this competition.
Albanese said the countries of the region were not bystanders and were shaping their own futures. He said these countries were writing their own scenarios, and stated that new relationships needed to be built, the rules governing interaction between countries needed to be preserved, and the notion that might makes right needed to be rejected. He called for efforts to help shape the emerging new world order.
Call for reform of global institutions
Albanese said global institutions, particularly the United Nations, needed to be reformed and strengthened. He also referred to Australia’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Arguing that the world order established after 1945 no longer served its purpose, Albanese said the global institutions needed today had not always been sufficient to address the challenges they faced.
Albanese said Australia’s approach was to actively participate in creating the order that would replace the current one.