Donald Trump's ascension has exposed Australia's differences with the United States and should prompt Canberra to seek a more trusting relationship with Beijing, the Whitlam-era ambassador to China says.

Stephen FitzGerald, who became Australia's first ambassador to China after prime minister Gough Whitlam restored diplomatic relations with the country in late 1972, says Australians are already "living in a Chinese world" and must try to influence it for the better.

Delivering the 2017 Whitlam Oration at Western Sydney University on Thursday, Mr FitzGerald will offer a grim assessment of the divergence between Australian and US values and interests, branding the Trump era the "biggest wake-up call for clear thinking about America at least since the Vietnam War years".

While stressing that "no one pretends we have shared values with China", Mr FitzGerald says that Mr Trump's values are "an affront to ours and should be called out for what they are".