Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Australia's top diplomat

Listen closely: The sound we heard this week was the penny dropping. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Australia's top diplomat, Frances Adamson, have both set out a vision for Australia that accepts the old order is changing. In a speech to a British think tank, Morrison sent a message to China that Australia will not be America's "deputy sheriff" and Canberra will not be making decisions based on a choice between Washington and Beijing. Meanwhile, Adamson candidly argued that Australia "is not about imposing our views on others", adding that "an era within which we felt comfortable has passed". She isn't telling us anything we shouldn't already have known, but when it comes to China, Australia has been a slow learner. Our strategy has been caught between what former prime minister Tony Abbott once described as a mixture of "fear and greed". The messaging has at times been cringe-inducing. When I lived in China, I lost count of the number of times I heard visiting politicians or business leaders talk about "exploiting" the relationship. We got rich and we assumed China would become just like us. As China defied history, building a powerful economy while doubling down on authoritarianism, our greed turned into fear. Why were we surprised that China began acting like the big power that it is? Big powers seek to bend the world to their will and control what is theirs. Two tigers can't live on the same mountain In the mid-19th century, the Monroe Doctrine — named after US President James Monroe — defined American sphere of influence and warned off European powers from any interference. The American dominated post-World War II global order served US interests, while Washington also meddled in the affairs of foreign countries — even propping up dictators when it suited. It was also broadly good for the world, and helped provide the stability for China's rise. There was always going to be a turning point. Morrison and Adamson have now sketched a world of greater competition. Adamson has said it is about building a more resilient, flexible and open system that can sustain peace "for all countries in the Indo-Pacific". What she didn't say is that the order cannot be America dominated; if it is, then American exceptionalism and Chinese authoritarianism are on a collision course. As the Chinese saying goes: Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain.