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Australia's being warned it will be unable to keep China out of the Pacific as it tries to expand its "sphere of influence" and the country should urgently renew its defences.
Hugh White is a professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University.
He says the cost of trying to stop China moving in to the Pacific might prove impossible to bear, and Australia would be better off building military defences for times of war.
Kim Hill speaks to Hugh White about what role he sees China playing in the Pacific in the coming years.