ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some ramifications of whether the economic rise of China has implied the revival or retention of the “China threat” in Australia. It concludes that the early 21st century has witnessed some revival of the fear of China notion, with considerable nervousness over the challenge China’s economic rise could pose to Western hegemony. On the other hand, we are seeing nothing like the perception of “China threat” that was prevalent under the prime-ministership of Robert Gordon Menzies (1949-1966). This chapter aims to be an Australian perspective of an important international issue. It does not try to fit Australia into any large-scale theory. The article’s focus is on the end of the 20th century and the first few years of the
21st. The period emphasized begins at the end of 1991, when Paul Keating became prime minister of Australia, and ends in November 2009, when the essay was finished.
