China names Anthony Albanese in warning to President-elect Donald Trump

Beijing has set the tone for its relationship with Donald Trump via an unexpected comment about the Australian Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been deemed by Beijing as the leader Australia’s American allies should emulate, seemingly setting the tone for its relationship with the incoming Trump administration.

On the eve of Mr Albanese’s meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping as part of the APEC and G20 talks in South America, state-run paper, China Daily, praised the Prime Minister’s “strategic authority” in the face of the “unprecedented geopolitical complexity and uncertainty” stirred by the recent election of US President-elect, Donald Trump.

The roster of names Mr Trump has nominated for his cabinet – among them Robert F Kennedy Jr, Marco Rubio and Matt Gaetz – has made the “balancing act” of Australia’s economic relationship with China, and its security partnership with the US “not an easy one”.

In its editorial, China Daily suggested that Australia’s ties to Beijing “deteriorated” when then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison “fell under Washington’s anti-China spell” during Mr Trump’s last turn in the White House.

US President-elect Donald Trump. Picture: Allison Robbert/AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Elvis Barukcic/AFP

“But Canberra has woken up to the significance of those ties under the Albanese government and set out repairing them,” it continued.

“The strategic autonomy has displayed has proved that those ties in are in both parties’ interests. It is also evident that economic ties with China and the US do not have to be mutually exclusive.”

Mr Albanese and his government, China Daily said, “might offer some useful reference for those struggling to strike such a balance”.

Mr Albanese and Mr Xi during the APEC Leaders Retreat last November. Picture: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/AFP

The Prime Minister has emphasised Australia’s trade relationship with China – our biggest export market – in the lead-up to the summits.

Mr Xi has reportedly taken this as sign Australia could help it argue against Mr Trump’s threat to impose 60 per cent tariffs on China, potentially slowing growth in the countries with which it holds strong economic relationships.

Beijing is further bracing for a turbulent four years in the wake of Mr Trump selecting Mr Rubio and Mr Gaetz, both outspoken China critics, as US Secretary of State and Attorney-General respectively.

US Senator Marco Rubio. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

US Representative Matt Gaetz. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

It’s far from the only place shocked by the President-elect’s provocative choices.

Mr Trump’s rapid rollout of picks for top jobs ahead of taking office in January has stirred broad concern that he appears to be putting preference for personal loyalty above expertise or suitability.

Ahead of last week’s election, the 78 year old said that the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring “disloyal people” to serve in his administration.

While Florida Senator Mr Rubio’s nomination drew some relief, given his traditionally conservative views on foreign policy, Mr Trump dismayed Democrats and some Republicans alike when he named Mr Gaetz as future Attorney-General.

Robert Kennedy Jr is Mr Trump’s nomination for US health secretary. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Gaetz – widely disliked even within his own party – was the subject of a years-long criminal probe into the sex trafficking of an underage girl, for which he denies any wrongdoing and has never faced charges. He was still being investigated by the House Ethics Committee.

One of Mr Trump’s national security advisers in his first term, John Bolton, told NBC that the right-wing firebrand “must be the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history”.

Much to the alarm of many Americans, Mr Trump has also tapped RFK Jr, a persistent and influential anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist – to be the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“We want you to come up with things and ideas and what you’ve been talking about for a long time and I think you’re going to do some unbelievable things,” Mr Trump told RFK Jr during his victory speech at Mar-a-Lago.

The President-elect has previously said he wanted RFK Jr to “go wild” in changing health care, and the two campaigned together with the vow to “Make America Healthy Again”.

— with AFP

Originally published as China names Anthony Albanese in warning to President-elect Donald Trump