The FrontPrime Minister Anthony Albanese met with President Xi Jinping for a fourth time on Tuesday – and scored a rare invite to dine with the Chinese leader.
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From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Kristin Amiot. It's Wednesday, July sixteenth, twenty twenty five. The second legal team representing accused murderer bo Lamar Condon has quit. Lawyer Alexander Terraccini told the court on Monday issues had arisen that prevented him from continuing the matter. The former New South Wales police officer is charged with the murder of Channel ten presenter Jesse Baird and his partner, Quantus flight attendant Luke Davies. He hasn't entered a plea, but is expected to defend the charges. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull discussed the shortcomings of ORCUS with Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby before he was charged with conducting a crucial review of the military Pact. That exclusive story from our Washington correspondent Joe Kelly is live right now at the Australian dot com dot AU. Prime Minister Anthony Albanizi scored a rare invite to dine with Chinese President Jijinping after the pair met for a fourth time on Monday. Today. Our North Asia correspondent Will Glasgow unpacks the meeting where what wasn't discussed was just as interesting as.
What was.
Right At the tippy top of Australia, where the team or sea flows into the Beagle Golf, you'll find the Port of Darwin. To call it strategically significant would probably be an understatement. It's a major gateway for trade with our neighbors in the Indo Pacific and regularly hosts all manner of vessels, from cruise liners to navy warships. In twenty fifteen, the Chinese owned land Bridge Group was granted a ninety nine year lease for the port worth just over half a billion dollars. But a lot's changed since then, and as China muscles in on the Indo Pacific, the Albanesi government is planning to take back control.
A port court in a political storm, ownership of the Port of Darwin to be stripped from a Chinese company, Ending a decade of debate.
We have a clear view, which is that it should be in Australian hands.
How Prime Minister Anthony Alberizi would broach this touchy subject in his meeting with Chinese President she Jin Ping was anyone's guess. But then it just didn't come up.
It looks like it sounds like President she didn't want to ruin the mood, you know.
I mean.
Will Glasgow is the Australian's North Asia correspondent. I spoke to him between meetings in Beijing's opulent Great Hall.
The Chinese state has gone out of its way to try to pump up this trip as being a success. Almost before it's happened. There's been laudatory coverage of the Australian Prime Minister and state media. And today there was a tone setting editorial in a China daily and that one was very laudatory of the Prime minister. Now nothing would ruin the mood, more like threatening economic consequences if Australia goes ahead with or if the Prime Minister goes ahead with that election commitment to end the ownership the Chinese company that owns the port of Darwin. Now that doesn't mean the issues resolved. I would mark that as something that's been pushed into the future. They've made a decision not to let it get in the way of this trip. I think it's sort of over to the Australian government to somehow try to negotiate that process in a way that doesn't embarrass the Chinese. It's also possible that Premier Lee, who the Prime Minister's meeting with as I speak to you in the Great Hall, that conversation is happening right now. It's possible that Shooting King's delegated the port of Darwin conversation to Premier Lee. The Prime Minister also said that since she didn't bring up the investment regime at all in Australia now, that suggests to me that conversation's also been handballed to Premier Le. I'd be amazed if that's not raised during this meeting that they're having right now.
In March, a flotilla of Chinese warships entered Australian waters, where they conducted live fire exercises and embarked on a circumnavigation of the country.
Chaos in the air between New Zealand and Australia, forcing the diversion of forty nine flights when it began a live fire exercise.
The Australian Defense Force hastily deployed two vessels to surveil the Chinese Task Group, and on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said President g has committed to being more transparent about Beijing's plans in future.
I said what I said at the time, which was that it was within international law. There was no breach of international law by China, but that we were concerned about the notice and the way that it happened, including the li fire exercises.
What's just happened on this trip is President she has told the Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi this directly. He said, China's going to operate off Australia and in other international waters just as Australia does off China's coast. In other words, get used to it. There's going to be no end to those people's liberation navy exercises. They're going to continue to show their ability to operate further and further from signer and that clearly includes, as we learned with that circumnavigation of Australia earlier this year, that includes the entirety of the Australian coastline. So yeah, the takeout is get used to it.
Will says that same takeout appliers to talk of a potential con linked over Taiwan.
This is one where She's and Ping's made very clear China's policy and that is as he sees it, Taiwan's coming back to Beijing rule. That's not negotiable the Australian government. I'm in austra Albanesian is meeting with residents. She said, Australia supports the status quo and opposes any non peaceful now euphemism for violent warlike taking of Taiwan.
Well, what we did was we put forward Australia's position, or I did, which is that we want peace and security in the region. That that is in the interests of both Australia and in the interests of China.
That concerned. That it's not unique to Australia, but are shared in capitals all around the world. That remains and right now is these meetings are taking place in Taipei. There annual military drills which are becoming more serious every year as they try to get the Taiwanese population to appreciate that that risk has risen so much and they're trying to prepare them for what life might be like in that horrible scenario if it happens.
Coming up by Chinese media is heaping praise on the PM On Tuesday, ahead of the Prime Minister's meeting with President ji jin Ping, The state owned English language newspaper China Daily, released a glowing editorial about Anthony Albanese's week long visit. We've used AI to bring parts of that publication to life.
Against the backdrop of rising tensions between the United States and many countries because of the US administration's recent threat to levy higher tariffs on them from August first, Albanese's visit shows that the Australian side has a clearer judgment and understanding of China than it had under the previous Scott Morrison government.
That, of course, is a reference to the dire state of the bilateral relationship before Albanese's time. Beijing was so offended by Scott Morrison's suggestion China was responsible for the COVID nineteen pandemic. The Chinese government slapped Australia with tariffs and bands on a whole host of agricultural products like wine, bali and rock lobster. But after Labour One government in twenty twenty two, the relationship thawed and exports resumed.
That Albanesi and the sizable business delegation accompanying him a meeting with representatives from the Tourism and sports sectors in Shanghai and Changdu, points to the importance Australia attaches to expanding its economic cooperation with China.
Will Glasgow says this type of editorial is intended to be read by visiting diplomats and it gives a pretty good indication of China's mood towards Australia right now.
Words matter in the Chinese system and that was a really important tone setting editorial. It's showing that China wants Australia to know, but the world to know that it considers its relationship with Australia to be going well and that it's improved a lot. I mean, it makes explicit in that editorial that it blames the last Australian government, Scott Morrison's government for what went wrong. They were quite explicit in their criticism of him all the way until the twenty twenty two election, and when Albanezi came in in twenty twenty two, they weren't subtle in claiming it as something of a victory for China, and they've kind of cheered him all the way along. During the last three years. They have been frustrated by at times the way he's adopted a lot of the Morrison government's policy and also how he's created a formula where he continues to speak about difficult parts of the relationship and eras where Australia and China profoundly disagree, particularly in the security space. But my view on that is, and that editorial makes this exact point. This has so much to do with how China sees America and an opportunity it has right now to really press its interests and maybe transform some of its relations with formal US treaty allies. As there's a president in the White House who is just royaling the international system and putting unprecedented stress on the US Alliance network, you know this is a time of great historic change. Sujan Ping sees a lot of opportunity in that, and you know they see Anthony Albanezi playing a role in there as well. Frankly, Trump is so self absorbed. I w stunned if you've in new safely place. There's certainly people in his administration though, people in the Pentagon, people in the State Department and other parts of that system who'll be watching this very closely and they won't like it at all.
Will Glasgow is The Australian's North Asia correspondent. You can read the latest from the Prime Minister's trip to China right now at the Australian dot com dot au
