Australia's costly miscalculation

In its recently released "position" statement on the South China Sea, the United States called China's claims in the waters unlawful and accused Beijing of a campaign of bullying. Australia has quickly followed suit, writing a letter to the United Nations on Thursday in which it said China's territorial claims there were "inconsistent" with international law.

It has become habitual for Australia to enthusiastically follow the lead of the US and dance to its tune. But jumping on the US bandwagon and meddling in the South China Sea disputes will only tarnish Australia's image in the Asia-Pacific and do even more damage to its already ailing ties with Beijing.

The South China Sea arbitration was a farce instigated by the previous government of the Philippines with the encouragement of the Barack Obama administration in the US, which wanted to use the maritime disputes in the region as the means to interfere in regional affairs and pivot the US military to the Asia-Pacific as part of its containment efforts targeting China.

Not only was the arbitration ruling made without sufficient legal grounds, but also a number of international treaties and conventions signed after World War II have all recognized China's sovereignty over the territory it claims in the South China Sea.

Thanks to the joint efforts by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the maritime disputes have turned a new page since the South China Sea arbitration farce in 2016. The two sides are now in the process of negotiating the text of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which aims to turn the waters into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.

Hence, the moves of the US and Australia are anything but constructive. They will erode the credibility of Washington and Canberra in the region as outside interference now only serves as a disruption to regional efforts to build peace and stability in the waters.

The US obviously wants to divert domestic attention from its failure to contain the coronavirus pandemic in an election year. For the same purpose, it has intensified its military posturing in the South China Sea and sought to portray China as a lawbreaker. Such immoral behavior will only weaken its global leadership, instead of buttressing it.

For Australia's part, blindly following the US in the maritime issue only lays bare its true face as a political opportunist. But its political calculation that it can pander to the US while enjoying the economic benefits of trade with China increasingly appears to be wishful thinking, as it will have to bear the consequences of consistently challenging the core interests of its biggest trading partner.