Editing Foreign relations of Australia (section)

===Contemporary issues===
After the end of the Cold War, Australia remained an important contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and to other multilateral security missions, often in alliance with the United States.  Notably, it joined coalition forces in the Persian [[Gulf War]] in 1991, the [[War in Afghanistan (2001-2021)]], the [[Iraq War]] of 2003–2011 and the [[War in Iraq (2013-2017)]].  In 1999 Australian peace keeping forces intervened in [[East Timor]] following its referendum to secede from Indonesia. In 2006 Australia sent a contingent of Australian troops to the state to assist in the [[2006 East Timor crisis]].<ref>James Cotton, ''East Timor, Australia and regional order: intervention and its aftermath in Southeast Asia'' (Routledge, 2004)</ref>  Australia has also most recently led security assistance, peacekeeping and policing missions elsewhere in its neighbourhood, including in the [[Solomon Islands]], [[Papua New Guinea]] and [[Tonga]].

In the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, a new element in Australia's foreign relations was the growing relationship with the [[People's Republic of China]].  After the establishment of diplomatic relations in December 1972, Sino-Australian relations grew rapidly, to a point where China became Australia's main trading partner and extensive official and people-to-people links were well established.  In the first 15 years of the 21st Century, Australia maintained privileged relations with both the United States and China.  Since 2017, Sino-Australian relations have deteriorated dramatically, as a result of Australian criticism of policies and actions taken under [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]] [[Xi Jinping]].  This has strongly influenced recent Australian bilateral and multi-lateral engagements such as the Pacific Step-Up with Pacific Island states, the development of comprehensive strategic partnerships with a number of regional states, and the pursuit of alliances directed at countering Chinese predominance in the Indo-Pacific region.  Since 2017, existing security arrangements have been augmented by a revived [[Quadrilateral Security Dialogue]] involving India, Japan and United States, the 2021 [[AUKUS]] security partnership with the United States and United Kingdom and the 2022 Australia-Japan [[Reciprocal Access Agreement]], which provides for closer Australian-Japanese cooperation on defence and humanitarian operations.