Australia-China weekly brief: June 2026 issues

Past issues

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• May 28 - June 4 2026

  1. Shangri-La: Marles presses China on ‘strategic reassurance’; AUKUS partners announce undersea drones project

  In a May 30 speech at the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Defence Minister Richard Marles warned against the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ‘rapid’ and ‘opaque’ military expansion and threats to subsea infrastructure, including undersea data cables. He said Australia would uphold the international rules-based order, acknowledging that while it was ‘imperfect’, ‘we are much better off with it than without it’. 

  Ahead of the summit, Marles told Reuters that the PRC’s relatively low-level, mainly academic delegation was a lost opportunity for direct dialogue and ‘strategic reassurance’ for the region.

  On the dialogue’s sidelines, AUKUS defence ministers confirmed Australia would purchase three in-service Virginia-class submarines from the US, replacing the earlier plan for two second-hand boats and one new vessel. They also announced AUKUS Pillar II’s first signature project: developing and deploying uncrewed undersea vehicles to help protect critical underwater infrastructure, with initial deliveries expected in 2027.

  The takeaway: Canberra is keeping dialogue with Beijing open, but Shangri-La showed no softening in its defence and security settings.

  2. Tiananmen Square, 37 years on 

  This brief is published on June 4, the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, a recurring marker of the values differences that persist beneath the relationship's stabilisation. 

  With public commemoration effectively barred across the PRC, the anniversary is observed largely overseas. Australian foreign ministers have marked the anniversary on some recent occasions – the 30th in 2019 and the 35th in 2024 – though not as annual practice.

  3. Solomon Islands to review China security pact

  Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale visited Canberra on June 3, his first international visit since taking office. Wale said he wanted to ‘reset’ with Australia, and he and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to begin negotiations on a new comprehensive treaty. 

  Wale also confirmed his government would ‘review’ Solomon Islands’ 2022 security pact with the PRC, which had raised concerns in Canberra about potential PRC military access in the South Pacific.

  The takeaway: The review gives Canberra an opening to consolidate its role as Honiara’s preferred security partner, but not yet evidence that Solomon Islands is prepared to revise the PRC pact.

  4. Australian beef exports to China stall ahead of 55 percent tariff trigger

  Australian beef exports to the PRC effectively paused this week as the sector approached the PRC’s 2026 beef safeguard quota. On June 1, the PRC’s Ministry of Commerce said Australian beef imports had reached 90 percent of the annual quota set under Announcement No. 87 (2025), a three-year tariff scheme aimed at protecting Chinese domestic farmers.

  The quota for Australian imports is 205,000 tonnes. Once the quota is fully reached, an additional 55 percent tariff applies from the third day after the trigger date. 

  The domestic impact is already visible. Beef Central reported falls of up to 15-20 percent in some cuts particularly exposed to China demand. Brazil faces a similar safeguard quota, but the PRC’s June 2 recognition of all of Brazil as foot-and-mouth-disease free may sharpen competition when quota settings reset.

  The takeaway: The issue shows that stabilised trade ties remain vulnerable to sector-specific restrictions, including measures not explicitly bilateral or punitive.

  5. Australia-China biomedical research network launched

  On June 3, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute announced the WEHI-China Health Research Network, supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. The network will connect Australian and Chinese researchers to ‘strengthen biomedical research capability in the region’ and ‘tackle shared health challenges’. 

  The takeaway: At a time when Australia-PRC research collaboration is contracting, the network points to a narrower model of engagement built around clearly defined projects.