Why Australia keeps an arm's length from South China Sea tensions, even as it draws closer with the Philippines

CNN — When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the Australian Parliament last week there was no mistaking the fighting talk. The Philippines was on the "front line" of a battle for regional peace, he said, battling "actions that undermine regional peace, erode regional stability, and threaten regional success." He likened the situation to 1942, saying his country would be "firm in defending our sovereignty, our sovereign rights, our jurisdiction," and would "not allow any attempt by any foreign power to take even one square inch of our sovereign territory." Neither was there any doubt about the intended target of…