Malcolm Turnbull says China's actions in the disputed South China Sea are creating anxieties among neighbours.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised China's actions in the disputed South China Sea as counterproductive.
There was too much at stake in disturbing more than 40 years of regional tranquillity, and it was undeniable China's actions were creating anxieties and raising tensions among its neighbours, he said.
"They are therefore counterproductive, regardless of the legal merits on which we do not express a view nor make a claim," Mr Turnbull told the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Wednesday.
Turnbull says despite the complexities, he's still determined to finish a free trade deal with India.
The Indian economy by 2050 could be as large of that of the US and still growing fast, he told the Lowy Institute on Wednesday.
"That is why to aid the transition to a new and more diversified economy, I am placing a high priority on the conclusion of a free trade agreement with India, as complex as those talks have been," he said.
