A US official said a war between the United States and China is unlikely to happen and if it does, Australia will not be forced to join an American war against China, China’s nationalistic tabloid Global Times reported.

US Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel R. Russel made the pronouncement following the claim of former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser that the Australia-US alliance denies Australia the choice to remain neutral if war should ever break out in the region.

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US and Australia recently held a ministry-level meeting that seeks to integrate the ballistic missile defense system of both countries as well as opening a bombing range in the Northern Territory to US forces, among others.

In his new book, Fraser urged Australia to sever its ties with the US in order to avoid conflict with China and claimed that “Australia is stuck in America’s system”.

Following the said meeting, Russel refuted Fraser claim that Australia is at higher risk because of its alliance with the US.

“It is extremely misleading to say the US strategy in the Asia-Pacific heightens the risk to Australia,” Russel was quoted as saying by Global Times.

Russel also said there will not be a war between the US and China although he expressed concerns over China's aggressive posturing in the South China Sea and trade attacks against US companies in China.

Australian ambassador to China Geoffrey Raby said his country is highly dependent on China for a third of its exports.

He added that Australia’s relationship with China has been healthy as evidenced by the absence of any trade or anti-monopoly investigation by the Chinese government. China also relies on Australia’s iron ore.

Tagsus china conflict, US-Australia Alliance