Bo Ma

Australian Centre on China in the World, the Australian National University

This presentation explores the escalating rivalry between the United States and China in the Asia-Pacific region under the renewed Trump administration, with a particular focus on its implications for Australia. Drawing on recent Chinese scholarly and official analyses since 2025, the seminar critically assesses how Chinese academia has perceived and responded to the Trump administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS 2.0). It identifies four principal concerns raised by Chinese scholars: intensified security tensions, ongoing sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, disruption to China-ASEAN diplomatic and strategic relations, and threats to China's economic interests in the region. The talk concludes by evaluating Chinese strategic perceptions of Australia's role within this dynamic geopolitical context.

About the Speaker 

Bo Ma is an Associate Professor at the School of International Studies and serves as Assistant Director of the China Center for Collaborative Study of the South China Sea at Nanjing University. Previously, he was the Wang Gungwu Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and a British Chevening Scholar (2019–2020). Dr. Ma earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) in 2014. He is the author of Chinese Foreign Policy in Xi Jinping’s Era: A Grand Design and Hot Issues, published by World Scientific Publishing (Singapore) in 2018, and The Belt and Road Initiative: Opportunity and Challenge for China’s Neighboring Foreign Policy, forthcoming from Social Sciences Academic Press (Beijing) in 2026. His commentary has appeared in outlets such as The Diplomat, Fulcrum, South China Morning Post, Global Times, and China Daily. His research interests include Chinese international relations theory, China's foreign policy, Sino-U.S. relations, and public international law, with a particular emphasis on territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.