Australians overwhelmingly don't want to be dragged into any future armed conflict between China and Japan over disputed territory.
And that view, according to former foreign minister Bob Carr, is the right approach.
A new poll, conducted by the Australia-China Relations Institute, found that 71 per cent of respondents believe Australia should remain neutral in any escalated conflict over territory in the East China Sea.
Japan claims the area as Senkaku islands while China calls it Diaoyu islands.
Defence and security analysts see the dispute as a critical flashpoint in the region that could draw in the United States against China.
Only 15 per cent of the 1000 respondents to the poll said Australia should support Japan and the US; 4 per cent said support China; while 9 per cent remained unsure.
Four out of 10 were aware of the territorial dispute while two out three were unaware of the US commitment to Japan.
Mr Carr, who is a director of the institute, says the poll results clearly show the posture Australians want their government to take.
"Our interests are not always the same as our great and powerful friends," he wrote in The Australian on Tuesday.
"We can have more influence in urging caution on China and Japan if they understand, through quiet diplomacy, we would stay out of a conflict."
That was the approach the US adopted in the 1960s when it let Australia know the ANZUS treaty would not have applied if "we had come to blows with Indonesia".
More than half the poll respondents said the treaty did not mean Australia would have to take sides and support Japan in a conflict with China over the islands.
Mr Carr said Australia's interests were different to those of the US which would come to Japan's support should conflict flare.
"Our living standards depend on trade and investment with China," he said.
"We share values with Japan, but are wary of nationalist currents in its politics."
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