Australia's increasingly unstable relationship with the US will not necessarily drive the nation into the arms of China, one expert says.
Anthony Albanese is preparing for his second prime ministerial trip to China as Australians' trust in the US has fallen amid President Donald Trump's extensive tariffs on goods from American trading partners.
Though uncertainty regarding Mr Trump has led many countries to look elsewhere for international relations, it does not mean Australia will necessarily bolster its security ties with China, Australian National University academic Edward Chan says.
"It's not a zero-sum game," the China studies expert told AAP.
"The decline of US-Australia relations doesn't mean that Australia becomes closer to China - that's too simplistic."
Mr Albanese is caught in the middle of ongoing trade tensions between one of Australia's closest allies and its biggest trading partner as the two have traded tit-for-tat reciprocal tariffs.
But Australia's ties with China have generally improved in the years since Mr Albanese took his first trip there in November 2023.
Beijing dropped many of the trade barriers imposed on Australian exports during 2020, and in June 2024 the prime minister met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Canberra for the annual China-Australia leaders' meeting.
The leaders agreed to expand or continue engagement in political dialogue, trade, climate change and more.
However, Australian policymakers remain cautious about China, specifically when it comes to security.
"They tend to be pushing for more collaboration with Australia, but in a more pragmatic way. Chinese scholars tend to be pessimistic for further development given the distrust from Australia," Dr Chan said.
Australia is more likely to rely on other regional partners such as countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan.
Meanwhile, the US has called on Australia to lift its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP as tariff talks continue.
In response, China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian on Monday penned an opinion piece arguing that "dramatically increasing military spending places a heavy fiscal burden on the countries involved".
"Some countries are ailing yet demand their allies and partners foot the bill for medicine, which seems to be an almost laughable notion," he said, in what appeared to be a reference to the US, in the article published in The Australian.
Asked about the article, Mr Albanese acknowledged comments such as these would be made from time to time.
"The Chinese ambassador speaks for China. My job is to speak for Australia and it's in Australia's national interest for us to invest in our capability and to invest in our relationships," he told reporters in Canberra.
