China's Xi Jinping meets Australian PM Antony Albanese as Beijing-Canberra ties thaw

President Xi Jinping of China met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Beijing on Monday, in what marked a significant milestone in the relationship between the two nations, which had been strained for several years. While Beijing remains Canberra’s largest trading partner, the rapport between the two countries deteriorated in 2020. This decline in relations was triggered by the actions of Australia’s former conservative government, which excluded the Chinese tech giant Huawei from participating in 5G contracts and also called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. A furious Beijing then slapped punitive tariffs on a slew of Australian commodities including coal, barley and wine as the relationship descended into a deep freeze. But China has reversed course since Albanese took power in May last year, lifting most of its restrictions on Australian goods and saying it wants “healthy and stable” ties. Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua reported they met on Monday afternoon. It did not provide further details. Ahead of their talks in Beijing, Albanese – the first Australian leader to visit China in more than seven years – predicted a “constructive discussion” with Xi and said he saw “promising signs” that relations were improving. “We’ve already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed,” he said. “China is our most important trading partner. “It represents more than 25 per cent of our exports, and one in four of our jobs relies upon our trade. So it’s an important relationship.” But the Australian prime minister has previously acknowledged the need to remain “clear-eyed” about the differences between the two countries and has aired his view that they are not strategically aligned. “We need to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest,” he said Monday. China has bristled at Australia’s security pact with the United States and Britain and rebuked its decision to purchase nuclear-powered submarines – widely seen as an effort to parry Chinese military might in the Asia-Pacific. Albanese, for his part, has spoken up on behalf of nations’ right to self-determination, as well as human rights and maintaining peace – including in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China from the self-ruled island it regards as part of its territory. ‘Benign partner’ Albanese has warned that China does not see itself as a power in favour of the “status quo”. But analysts say high-level meetings this week will see Beijing project itself as a “benevolent and benign partner” welcoming a wayward friend back to the fold. “China won’t want to dwell on criticisms of its economic coercion or hostage diplomacy,” Courtney Fung, scholar in residence with the Asia Society Australia, told AFP. Last month, China released Australian journalist Cheng Lei after three years in detention on opaque espionage charges. The sons of Australian writer Yang Jun – who has been jailed in China since 2019 on spying accusations – have asked Albanese to raise his case and achieve the same “miracle” for their father. Analyst Yun Sun said Beijing would be keen to present “the trip as Australia recognising its previous mistakes”. “It will portray Albanese as being on the right side of history and making the correct choice for the sake of (Australia’s) economy, especially export industries, including its wine industry,” said Sun, of the Washington-based Stimson Center. “That will be the Chinese narrative.” With AFP inputs