Amid the negotiations over lifting the trade bans, the release of the two Australians detained on murky charges will be powerful bargaining chip in China’s uncaring hands.
Now that the prime minister has received an official invitation to visit Beijing later this year, the political and diplomatic lines are being drawn.
The partisan political ones are expected. The opposition declares the trip a failure in the making if Anthony Albanese lands in Beijing without first securing an end to China’s trade bans.
Loading...
James Curran is professor of modern history at Sydney University.
