Australia should stay away from South China Sea

Echoing the US-led chorus criticizing China's reclamation and construction work in the South China Sea, Australian Defense Minister Kevin Andrews has made quite a few hard-line remarks. Canberra may be eager to prove its allegiance to Washington, but if it believes that it can help contain China by jumping on to the US bandwagon, it is wrong.

In his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31, the Australian defense minister made it clear his country's stance on China's reclamation work is pretty much similar to the views expressed by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter at the security forum.

In his speech, interpreted by Australian media as Canberra's strongest statement on the reclamation issue, Andrews called for a halt to large-scale reclamation work and militarization in the waters of the South China Sea, and hinted that Australia could join the US and other countries in opposing China if it didn't stop reclamation.