Speaking with: Kerry Brown on China, Australia and diplomacy

Australia’s ability to influence China will largely depend on how it engages with China’s complex and growing diplomatic machinery. ShutterstockThe emergence of China as a 21st-century superpower has already had profound impacts on Australia. As China reshapes the balance of power, not only in the Asia-Pacific region but globally, its influence on Australia is likely to increase. China’s economic and military growth will also challenge the world’s other superpower – and Australia’s traditional security ally – the United States. Caught between these two superpowers, Australia’s ability to manage this difficult diplomatic balancing act could well determine its future prosperity and security. Tamson Pietsch speaks with Kerry Brown, executive director of the China Studies Centre, about Australia’s place in the Chinese Century and the role diplomacy has to play. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Image: Shutterstock Music: Free Music Archive/Kindread, Lo Ka Ping and Chan Wai Fat. Tamson Pietsch receives funding from the Australian Research Council.