2016 DEFENCE WHITE PAPER

Australia’s security environment 43
peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and anti-piracy
operations. Australia will expand its defence relationship with China over
coming years, as outlined in Chapter Five.
2.14 The relationship between the United States and China is likely to be
characterised by a mixture of cooperation and competition depending
on where and how their interests intersect. The United States and China
share important interests in deepening their economic integration.
The governments of both countries have publicly committed to a
constructive relationship and it is not in the interests of either country
to see an unstable international environment in which the free and open
movement of trade and investment is compromised. The United States
and China already cooperate in many security areas where their interests
intersect, demonstrated by their joint exercises in search and rescue,
counter-piracy, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
SECTION ONE STRATEGY
2.15 In recent years the United States and China have also increased
senior-level dialogue on defence matters and have developed a
range of bilateral mechanisms to increase transparency, reduce
misunderstanding, and de-escalate tension. This includes the November
2014 agreement on rules of behaviours for safe military encounters at
sea and in the air. Both countries also actively participate in the evolving
regional security architecture, including the East Asia Summit, the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum and
the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).
2.16 While major conflict between the United States and China is unlikely,
there are a number of points of friction in the region in which differences
between the United States and China could generate rising tensions.
These points of friction include the East China and South China Seas,
the airspace above those seas, and in the rules that govern international
behaviour, particularly in the cyber and space domains.
2016 DEFENCE WHITE PAPER