Australia and Japan are increasingly pushing a "values" based foreign policy across the region as a hedge against China's more assertive behaviour, in a further sign of the strained relations between Canberra and Beijing.
The increasing emphasis on "shared values", rather than the previous doctrine of "shared interests" is likely to be referred to in some form in Australia's new Foreign Policy White Paper due out later this year.
The emphasis on democracy, human rights and the rule of law has been promoted by Japan for some time and has become a focus of recent speeches by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
A senior Japanese official emphasised this doctrine of shared values during a recent private briefing and urged like-minded countries including Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and India to unite around this principle.
"Our values are very different to those of China," said the official."We believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law."
The Japanese push comes at a time of hardening attitudes towards China in Australia and a marked shift in outlook from Mr Turnbull.
As The Australian Financial Review revealed on Friday, Mr Turnbull labelled China, Australia's "frenemy" in unscripted remarks at a public event in Sydney last year.
This harder-line approach was backed up during a speech by Mr Turnbull in Singapore earlier this month, where he called out China's "corruption", "coercion" and "interference" across the region.
Japan and Australia are seeking out new partnerships at a time when America's role in the region remains uncertain. It is hoped there will be further clarity on how America sees its position in the region when the US and China hold their first Security and Diplomatic dialogue under the Trump administration on Wednesday in Washington.
"We are at an inflection point in the US-China relationship," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Congressional hearings during the week.
Allan Gyngell, a former head of the Office of National Assessments, now a professor at The Australian National University said "there is an understanding in Australia that we need to think through all of this more carefully because the world keeps changing around us and at such an unprecedented speed that it is hard to find a rock to stand on.
"That process is under way with the foreign policy white paper," he said.
