Albanese China trip shows ‘stiffening of Canberra spine’ in face of US pressure

A month after US President Donald Trump cancelled talks with Anthony Albanese, China rolled out the red carpet for the Australian leader this week.

In Beijing, he had a two-hour meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. Albanese’s fiancee, Jodie Haydon, joined the lunch that followed.

He held separate talks with Premier Li Qiang, and they co-chaired a CEO round table attended by nearly 30 Chinese and Australian business executives. At the banquet hosted by Li that evening, a band played iconic Australian anthems including “a different version of Paul Kelly’s ‘To Her Door’, of Midnight Oil’s ‘Power and the Passion’”, Albanese later told reporters.

The Australian prime minister also visited Shanghai and Chengdu on a six-day trip that shed light on Canberra’s approach to navigating great power rivalry after a reset in relations with Beijing.

It showed how Australia is trying to maintain ties with China – its largest trading partner – and the alliance with the United States, while side-stepping thornier issues such as Beijing’s military activities and Taiwan.

“Australia’s predicament is not unusual in the region,” said James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.