Fast Focus | Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s PRC visit

UTS:ACRI DIRECTOR

The US might be re-framing its approach to China relations, but Australia isn’t. 

In Washington, ‘engagement’ is seen as naïve, discredited. But when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked whether for his government ‘the premise is engagement’, he replied, ‘[O]ur engagement is constructive. It’s not just about trade. It’s about people-to-people links, it’s about a range of engagement in our region and we’ll continue to do that…’. 

This does not, of course, mean Canberra and Beijing have become more geopolitically aligned. But it does mean in their most basic inclinations to managing differences with Beijing, Washington and Canberra have become more distant, and so expect a greater gap between Australia and American policy choices towards China going forward.

UTS:ACRI MANAGER, RESEARCH ANALYSIS

Prime Minister Albanese’s second visit to China marked a more confident phase in Australia-China relations. The six-day tour highlighted Canberra’s effort to build resilience into trade ties – expanding cooperation in areas such as green steel that are arguably less exposed to political volatility – while maintaining strategic autonomy. 

Albanese presented dialogue as necessary, not deferential, underlining Australia’s capacity to act in its own interest, independent of US-China dynamics. The optics of meeting President Xi Jinping before President Donald Trump, though more circumstantial than calculated, nonetheless reinforced a broader message: Australia is not drifting between powers but asserting space to act on its own terms. The harder test will be sustaining that position as geopolitical pressures continue to mount. 

The visit also underscored China’s effort to position itself as a constructive partner to a key, resource-rich, US ally. While Beijing is unlikely to expect to sever Australia-US ties, it does benefit from exploiting variation within the Western alliance system and is clearly invested in turning a tense relationship into a more transactional and self-contained one. 

UTS:ACRI ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER; SENIOR DIRECTOR, GLOBAL AFFAIRS AND POLICY, UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA

Despite China’s international students playing a major role in Australia’s economy, the Prime Minister’s visit didn’t lead with education. Universities were present, however, with two Vice Chancellors represented. Both sides reaffirmed support for people-to-people exchanges, specifically mentioning increasing the numbers of students and welcoming more Australians to China for exchanges and study. 

What was far more visible was the tourism sector – a loud message that Australia welcomes Chinese tourists and a signing of an agreement to promote Australia as a premier tourist destination. The ‘safety’ of the tourism sector was evident, as opposed to the ‘more politically risky’ international education sector. 

What wasn’t said is that these two sectors are closely linked. Chinese international students are vital to Australia’s tourism sector – one largely begets the other. The risk is that Australia is seen as ‘two-faced’ – at once welcoming Chinese tourists, while also being fearful of students studying in our institutions. 

The visit did highlight the importance to the bilateral relationship of research cooperation and the translation of ideas into commercial success. Perhaps the fact that education and international students took a back seat, while research cooperation and outcomes stood forward is a sign of a maturing of the relationship.

UTS:ACRI ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER; PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY, PEKING UNIVERSITY

Prime Minister Albanese's side trip to the Great Wall on July 16, where he is reported in the media to have mentioned former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's walk there in 1971, is emblematic of the complexities in diplomacy between China and Australia. Careful observers in China will surely appreciate the affirmation of political will on the part of Prime Minister Albanese to put Australian interest front and centre when it comes to relating to China. At the same time, the Great Wall walk can also be read as a subtle invitation for Chinese foreign policy decision-making to factor in the domestic and external challenges the current leadership faces.

The main deliverable of the talk between Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Albanese is the commitment to continue with dialogues on a number of specific themes. This is, in reality, a healthy dose of realism in policy management.