The United States can never expect to win a land war in Asia and should strive to co-operate with a rising China rather than confront Beijing, says Paul Keating.

The former prime minister has also urged Australia to be more independent about asserting its national interests, and criticised conservative and Labor governments in the last decade for allowing Australian foreign policy to be seen as synonymous with Washington's.

Consensus with China ... Paul Keating. Credit:Lee Besford

"This, of course, could never have been broadly true, notwithstanding the points of coincidence from time to time," he said.

Mr Keating was speaking in Sydney today at the launch of a new book on the US relationship with China, which he described as central to Australia's security and prosperity.