How will South East Asia's 240 Million Malay Muslims react to containment by a China-Australia Alliance?

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

                       DFAT is already sounding confused  about Australia's role in he South China Sea

The election of Joe Biden as the next President Of The United States has, predictably, led to calls within Australia for a  realignment of Australia's alliances, away from the US and toward China. 

Leading the charge this week for the China lobby was Geoff Raby. In pushing for an ANZUS type alliance between China and Australia the Australian China lobby assumes that South East Asian nations will be passive bystanders. 

The lobby makes this assumption despite the fact that South East Asia is home to some 240 Million mostly Malay Muslims. They are mostly to be found in Malaysia and Indonesia where there remains an uneasy relationship between the majority Malay Muslims and minority ethnic Chinese.That tension extends to relations with majority Chinese Singapore; readers may recall then Indonesian President BJ Habibie's little red dot in a sea of green comment.

The US presence in South East Asia, and by extension that of Australia has been welcomed by Malaysia and Indonesia as a guarantee against any threat from the Communist Party Of China. This has been the case since at least the middle of the last century. The Malayan Emergency Of 1948-60 and Australia's role in defending Malaya (albeit under the Five Power Defence Agreement)is a case in point. 

Consequently any change to the current equation that may be caused by Australia shifting its alliances towards China will be seen as a threat by South East Asia's Muslims. It does not seem as if Canberra nor the China Lobby has considered the consequences of even a perception of that threat.

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