This week’s visit to Australia by Wang Yi, China’s number one diplomat, has been filed away diplomatically as another episode in what the government calls the “stabilisation” of bilateral ties.

It is a nice, reassuring word which has the benefit of not being entirely inaccurate. Since Labor was elected in May 2022, top-level dialogue, frozen for years by Beijing, has been restored. Trade barriers are being lifted. Tourists and students are back.