China Trumpets Albanese Visit As A 'Clear Change In Attitude'

Recognizing its economic coercion against the Scott Morrison government did not achieve its objectives – and facing ongoing US-led efforts to constrain its rise – Beijing has been making foreign policy adjustments.

It has been reaching out to some US allies and partners, including key European Union member states, and inviting them to multi-pronged diplomatic initiatives organized by China. It has also been holding bilateral talks on important economic and political issues with high-ranking officials from these countries.

Chinese leaders recognized the Australian Labor Party's traditional approach to foreign policy emphasizes cooperation with international organizations, such as the United Nations and regional institutions. As such, they focused on the shared interests between China and Australia (commerce, climate change), as well as their shared identities (Asia-Pacific countries).

At the same time, they also subtly (or bluntly, depending on which side you look at it) reminded Canberra that its alliance commitments with the US and membership in security arrangements like AUKUS and the Quad should not be at the expense of Australia-China relations – and certainly not Chinese interests.

The Communist Party-run Global Times made no secret of the fact Australia can set an example for other US allies in an opinion piece:

The economic agenda was equally important to Beijing, given the difficulties China is currently facing.

Given the nature of Australia-China trade, there is a limit to the punitive measures China can impose on Australia. In fact, despite the tensions that existed with Australia under the Morrison government, overall bilateral trade has continued to grow, reaching nearly $300 billion in 2022 . This shows how complementary the two economies actually are, as well as the resilience of these economic ties.

This is what Chinese leaders and the media emphasized during Albanese's visit and why they were highly critical of the idea of“decoupling” or“de-risking” from China's economy.

They characterized“decoupling” as going against free trade and protectionism, but in reality, Beijing is deeply concerned over any specific measures that restrict trade in the high-tech sector, such as with semiconductors. The US and its allies have increasingly adopted such restrictions in recent years.

What wasn't discussed much in the Chinese media was the gap between what Beijing presented as a successful visit and what was actually achieved.

One could argue both sides talked about the obvious – for example, that bilateral relations have more or less stabilized, compared to how they were 18 months ago. As China expert Richard McGregor astutely observed , Albanese was“pushing on an open door.”

This is not to belittle the progress made so far. The intentions of both governments to resume and strengthen the many dialogues between officials from their countries is important – even critical – in“resetting” the relationship.

These channels of communication are incredibly important during times of crisis as a way of managing disputes and avoiding conflicts from spiraling out of control.

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Though resetting the relationship was a definite aim in the long term, there were also significant takeaways in the short term. This can be seen in how the state media coverage downplayed AUKUS and conflicts in the South Pacific, where China's influence has raised alarm bells in Canberra and Washington.

China has signaled its displeasure over AUKUS and continues to consider it a major impediment to the further improvement of bilateral relations. But Xi told Albanese they could work together on regional security challenges.

And in the Pacific, the Chinese side is seeing an opportunity for the two countries in terms of regional economic development – how Australia and China can both contribute.

Jingdong Yuan is Associate Professor, Asia-Pacific Security, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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