Rudd's APC proposal and US and Australia alliance: are they compatible?

Further comments on Peter Drysdale “Rudd in Singapore on the Asia Pacific Community idea”, 31/05/2009, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/05/31/rudd-in-singapore-on-the-asia-pacific-community-idea/

Irrespective whether Ron Huisken's interpretation of the Rudd APC proposal is correct, that proposal seems fatally flawed. It is a naive and premature idea.

Just think about this: is China willing to deal with the US alone or is that willing to deal with the US and its two military allies and deputies in the East Asia together? Alternatively, is Rudd prepared to give up the US - Australia alliance? Is Japan willing to do so? Why would China want to create more trouble for itself by including Japan and Australia in its dealing with the US if it can do it on a bilateral basis?

I have no doubt that Rudd is good intentioned in his APC proposal. But if Ron Huisken is correct that Rudd's key objective is to see the United States cemented into a body within which there are some members that are militarily aligned with the US while the other rising power is not, it is unlikely to get off the ground.

That should not be a too subtle point for people to see. In that context, there is also the Australian white paper on defence. It does not appear to sit well with Rudd's APC concept. At the least they have been poorly timed together.