china isnt garunteed to be a gentle giant (any more or less than america), they also have their own "private agreements" .. most obviously with north korea and burma and also with other bordering asian countries... we aint part of them if you hadnt noticed... we are barely even part of ASEAN.
as such, this going bad will take two to tango and australia will not be the only puppy dog siding with america if and when it does... it will get called ww3 and everyone will be in the shit.