Albanese to visit China signaling a warming of relations

Australia PM Anthony Albanese will commence his three-day trip to China today, the first by an Australian leader since 2016.

During the diplomatic visit, he will attend a trade expo in Shanghai and meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping. While stabilizing bilateral trade relations will dominate the agenda, Albanese also plans to raise other issues including Beijing’s human rights violations, its arbitrary detention of Australian citizens, and its growing militarization in the South China Sea. While reiterating Canberra’s stance of “co-operating when we can and disagreeing where we must”, Albanese nonetheless aims to continue the upward diplomatic streak with Beijing which in recent months has witnessed an unfolding rapprochement in both trade and political relations.

Overall, this diplomatic visit signals a warming of relations. While Beijing will most likely maintain its defensive posture regarding human rights criticisms, it will fall short of outright criticizing Canberra given the latter’s importance in China’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific partnership. The meeting is likely to follow a quid pro quo, with Beijing expected to roll back on trade sanctions and Canberra lending its support to further integrate Beijing within the regional economic framework.