China's dual function for Australia as a chief source of economic opportunity and security concern has complicated Australia's foreign and defence policies over the last decades. This paper aims to depict how Australia has dealt with China's dual significance, and identify Australia's struggles to maximise its own economic and security interests, tracing the need to strengthen cooperative economic relations with China while simultaneously endeavouring to maintain a robust alliance with the United States. The worst scenario for Australia would be for its largest trading partner and its significant ally to collide. Australia thus accentuates the significance of coordinated efforts to encourage China to take a constructive, not hegemonic, behaviour through, for instance, engaging it in multilateral forums.
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