Australia\u2019s troubled ties with China in recent years have had far-reaching costs \u2013 sweeping trade curbs from Beijing devastated the Australian wine industry, hit the livelihoods of farmers and fishers across the country, and impacted billions of dollars in trade. <\/p>\n
Now, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is headed to Beijing for a landmark trip \u2013 the first for an Australian leader in seven years \u2013 widely seen as a step forward in both sides\u2019 efforts to stabilize the relationship after years of economic tension. <\/p>\n
Stakes are high for the four-day visit, which begins on Saturday and will see Albanese meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang and make stops in Beijing and Shanghai. <\/p>\n
The two countries have only in recent months begun to emerge from a diplomatic deadlock that escalated from 2020 when Beijing slapped punishing trade restrictions across a swath of Australian exports. <\/p>\n
At the time it was seen as political retaliation for then prime minister Scott Morrison\u2019s calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, though relations had been deteriorating for some time. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s Foreign Ministry blamed Australia for the trade issues, in 2020 accusing it of \u201cviolating the basic norms governing international relations,\u201d though its commerce ministry has cited anti-dumping and other reasons for the curbs. <\/p>\n
Both sides have much to gain from a step back in those economic tensions,\u00a0and in recent months have been working hard to pave the way for the trip. <\/p>\n
How well the leaders manage the relationship also has important implications for the\u00a0Indo-Pacific, where smooth communications between China and Australia, a key US ally, could play a stabilizing role in the increasingly contentious region. Leaders from Washington to Seoul will likely be watching closely. <\/p>\n
Albanese\u2019s trip also carries symbolic overtones, marking 50 years since the first official visit by an Australian leader to Communist China after the two countries established ties. <\/p>\n
A visit to mark that diplomatic milestone represents a step forward in relations, according to Jingdong Yuan, an associate professor at the University of Sydney who specializes in Asia-Pacific security. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis visit is very symbolic, but still very important. They\u2019ve come this far from the bottom just 18 months ago \u2013 this is a good beginning (for them) to explore where they can cooperate,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Speaking from the northern city of Darwin before his departure on Saturday, Albanese said the upcoming trip was the result of a \u201cpatient, calibrated and deliberate approach that we have to the relationship with China.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that it is the first visit in seven years to our major trading partner is a very positive step,\u201d he said, according to Reuters. <\/p>\n
A range of tensions, however, will cast a shadow over the proceedings. Analysts say the meetings could lay the groundwork for expanded communication, but won\u2019t be enough to turn back the clock on what has now become a fragile relationship. <\/p>\n
Beijing\u2019s economic campaign sharpened rising concerns in Australia over alleged Chinese espionage and political interference, its ambitions in the neighboring Pacific Islands, and <\/strong>its detention of Australian citizens. <\/p>\n Journalist Cheng Lei, detained in 2020, was released last month before Albanese\u2019s trip was announced, but writer Yang Hengjun remains in prison since being detained in 2019 on espionage charges, which he denies. <\/p>\n Beijing, meanwhile, has become increasingly alarmed by Canberra\u2019s growing security ties with Washington amid deepening US-China rivalry. China had already chafed for years over Australia\u2019s public expression of national security concerns, including its ban on telecoms provider Huawei in 2018. <\/p>\n The election of Albanese\u2019s Labor government last May allowed for a shift in those tensions, with Beijing gradually rolling back many of its trade controls since then \u2013 including on barley, timber, and coal \u2013 as the new Australian leadership dialed down the rhetoric. <\/p>\n Canberra announced Albanese\u2019s trip late last month, shortly after the two countries reached a deal that could see the end of tariffs on wine \u2013 one of the most glaring sore points in that tranche of trade curbs, whose resolution the leader said would be worth about 1.2 billion Australian dollars ($773.6 million) to Australia. <\/p>\n During his meetings with Chinese officials, Albanese will likely push for lifting outstanding curbs, like those on lobster \u2013 and raise issues including China\u2019s aggression in the South China Sea and its detention of Yang. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to China what I say is we\u2019ll cooperate where we can, we will disagree where we must, and we\u2019ll engage in our national interest and I will always make representations on behalf of Australians,\u201d Albanese told reporters on Wednesday, after confirming he was in touch with Yang\u2019s family. <\/p>\n For Beijing, the Australian leader\u2019s visit provides an opportunity to push for more Chinese access to Australia\u2019s resources and renewable energy sectors, according to Elena Collinson, who manages research analysis at the University of Technology Sydney\u2019s Australia-China Relations Institute. <\/p>\n Chinese leaders may also look for Albanese to support China\u2019s entry to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade pact between countries on both sides of the Pacific, she said. <\/p>\n For China, the visit coincides with its push to repair ties with other US-friendly economic partners, like those in Europe \u2014 part of bid to prevent them from falling too closely in step with America\u2019s China policy. <\/p>\n \u201cAs tensions simmer with the US and its own economic position teeters on the precarious, it is in (China\u2019s) interests to inject some stability into its relations with a resource-rich US ally,\u201d Collinson said. <\/p>\n Albanese is heading to Beijing less than two weeks after he met with US President Joe Biden in Washington. <\/p>\n There, the two leaders expressed their shared concern over \u201cChina\u2019s excessive maritime claims\u201d in the South China Sea. <\/p>\n They also hailed the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the US and the United Kingdom \u2013 which is supporting Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines,\u00a0and the Quad, an informal grouping with Japan, India and the US. <\/p>\n As he aims to repair ties with China, Albanese will need to walk a line between these interests and China\u2019s suspicions about the aims of these blocs, analysts say. <\/p>\n \u201cAlbanese can deliver the message, with regard to the Quad or AUKUS \u2026 Australia has this long history being part of (such) security arrangements \u2013 and (they) do not necessarily target China,\u201d said Yuan in Sydney, who is also director of the China-Asia Security Program at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. <\/p>\n Albanese can also convey that what China does \u201ccould impact the direction of these arrangements,\u201d he said, adding that Australia could provide an example to other middle powers with close ties to Washington about how to play a role in conveying messages between the US and China and navigating relationships with both powers. <\/p>\n Xi, meanwhile, is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Fransisco later this month and meet with Biden, as the powers also seek to stabilize their fraught relations. <\/p>\n Easing of tensions with Australia could also help create a positive atmosphere ahead of those high-stakes talks. <\/p>\n And as China marks this new milestone with Australia, analysts say the Chinese leader and his officials may be taking note of the outcome of its economic campaign against the country. <\/p>\n \u201cBeijing came to learn that the weaponization of trade did not force a close US ally to back down,\u201d said Collinson. \u201cAnd only served to intensify other countries\u2019 suspicion and wariness of its motives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Australia\u2019s troubled ties with China in recent years have had far-reaching costs \u2013 sweeping trade curbs from Beijing devastated the Australian wine industry, hit the livelihoods of farmers and fishers across the country, and impacted billions of dollars in trade. Now, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is headed to Beijing for a landmark trip \u2013 the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} US relations loom<\/h2>\n