China’s emergence as an economic and geopolitical power in the Asia-Pacific is causing tensions between traditional allies the U.S. and Australia, according to a Sydney-based think tank.

“There are frustrations between Canberra and Washington,” the University of Sydney’s United States Study Centre said in a report released Thursday. The U.S. is urging Australia “to be less cautious about calling out China’s destabilizing activities, and to lessen its commercial dependence on China,” it said.

At the same time, Australia wants the U.S. to “clarify its objectives, strategy and resources in greater detail and to be clearer about what it would like Australia to do,” the report said. “It would also like the U.S. to refrain from counter-productive actions, such as picking fights with allies over issues that could be resolved quietly and behind closed doors.”