Scott Morrison has denied Australia's controversial nuclear submarine deal will trigger an arms race with China and insisted war in the Indo Pacific is not inevitable.
The Prime Minister told CBS' 'Face the Nation' at the close of his US trip that Australia was not be seeking to compete in a weapons build-up with the rising superpower.
Australia will acquire a fleet of eight nuclear powered submarines under the new AUKUS defence pact with the US and Britain. But the new submarines will not carry nuclear weapons.
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"There's been an increased militarisation of the Indo-Pacific for many, many years," Mr Morrison said.
"And we've seen that escalating for some time. And so the escalation predates our decision."
Mr Morrison said the Royal Australian Navy needed a submarine force that could give it a "long reach" into strategically important waters such as the South China Sea.
"Australia is a long way from everywhere ... we need to have a long reach and a long range."
He said the nuclear vessels rather than conventional submarines under the scrapped $90 billion deal with France would offer Australia this.
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Mr Morrison also rejected claims by journalist Margaret Brennan that Australia not had a "target" on its back and China would feel more threatened.
Instead, Mr Morrison said Australia was seeking a more strategically balanced Indo Pacific.
"Australia has every right to take decisions in our sovereign interests to provide for our defences, to work with our partners, to create a more stable region, to ensure that there is an effective balance in the region of interest."
Despite rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over China's military build-up, Mr Morrison said it did not mean there would be an Indo Pacific conflict within the next 10 years.
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"I certainly don't see it as inevitable. And I think it's all completely avoidable. And those issues, though, are going to be resolved principally between the United States and China."
Australia has been subjected to Chinese trade sanctions against its key export goods - such as coal, wind and seafood - for the past 18 months as relations have hit a new low.
But Mr Morrison insisted he was willing to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping but Beijing had shown little interest.
"Well, the phones are always open at our end. The doors already are always open at our end.
"There is no Australian obstacle to direct dialogue at a political level between Australia and China."
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