Albanese In China Signals Shift From Friction To Realism

Since last year, Australian citizens have been able to visit China for up to 30 days without a visa. In turn, Australia will welcome more Chinese visitors under a new Memorandum of Understanding promoting Australia as a premier tourist destination for Chinese travellers.

Albanese's meetings with Xi and Li also yielded concrete results.

The official joint statement emphasized economic cooperation, particularly in climate-related areas such as steel decarbonization, dryland farming, and the green economy.

These outcomes align with the Albanese government's guiding principle: cooperate where we can.

The deeper economic cooperation has been noted in China , where there is an expectation that collaboration will continue to accelerate on the back of improved relations.

As James Laurenceson of the Australia–China Relations Institute recently noted , a stronger economic partnership will help foster more resilient ties across the board.

Other analysts also see increased mutual benefits in the bilateral relationship. China-watcher James Curran suggests the visit may signal a maturing, more independent Australian foreign policy.

This was best illustrated by Albanese's refusal to provide Washington with a wide-ranging and largely open-ended commitment to support the US in any conflict with China over Taiwan .

Indeed, as Curran observes, Albanese has tried to steer the relationship away from disagreement and towards pragmatic engagement.

Following his meeting with Xi, Albanese was repeatedly asked by Australian journalists if he raised sensitive issues such as Taiwan, China's military build-up and the South China Sea .

While he confirmed these topics were addressed, he emphasised a preference for peaceful engagement:

Unsurprisingly, the joint statement made no reference to these issues, reflecting a mutual decision to sidestep confrontation in favour of stabilizing the relationship.

This diplomatic posture toward China would appear to be a defining feature of the Albanese government's second term: strengthening cooperation while quietly managing differences.

Rather than highlighting points of contention, the government is opting to avoid open disagreement where possible.

Overt disputes risk destabilising bilateral ties. If issues are raised publicly, it is unlikely to shift entrenched positions on either side. This explains why the ownership of the Port of Darwin , for example, was not mentioned during Albanese's meeting with Xi.

Critics, however, argue this risks projecting weakness towards China.

Justin Bassi , executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, warns the government is staying silent in the face of ongoing Chinese coercion:

Even within China, analysts are cautious about Albanese's approach. As one Chinese scholar told us,“a stable relationship does not necessarily mean a friendly one.”

In fact, while the Chinese media has stressed Australia and China's shared commitment to regional stability, this was barely mentioned in the official joint statement .

Still, there is recognition on both sides that pragmatism rather than ideological grandstanding is the more sustainable path forward.

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In sum, Albanese's visit does not mark a dramatic reset or bold new direction in Australia–China relations. Rather, it signals a shift toward greater realism.

In an increasingly complex and multipolar world, diplomacy grounded in mutual interests, rather than ideology, is not only practical but may also be a growing trend globally.

Edward Sing Yue Chan is postdoctoral fellow in China Studies, Australian National University and Guangyi Pan is lecturer in international political studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney

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

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