Andrew Bolt: Australia’s relationship with China at a dangerous point

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meeting with China’s dictator is not a “breakthrough” after six years of Australia being smacked around.

Wrong. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 32-minute meeting with China’s dictator is not a “breakthrough” after six years of Australia being smacked around.

It’s certainly not what one excited Sydney Morning Herald columnist claimed – a “capitulation” by China.

In fact, we’re now at a dangerous point: China used the stick, now it’s offering Albanese the carrot. It’s dangerous because Albanese is already nibbling that carrot, despite promising he’ll “disagree where we must” with China.

Xi opened Tuesday’s meeting by gratefully noting Albanese said he’d “handle China-Australian relations in a mature manner”.

To Xi, “mature manner” means not like Scott Morrison’s.

The former Prime Minister had called out China over the origins of the Covid-19 virus; for jailing two Australians on laughable claims of spying; for sending a million Muslims into concentration camps; for crushing democracy in Hong Kong; for threatening to invade democratic Taiwan.

Anthony Albanese with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit 2022. Picture: Twitter

Don’t be like Morrison. Shut up. We’ll then have sweet talks like this and maybe China will lift the trade bans it imposed to punish Australia.

Albanese is indeed shutting up.

Agreed, he mentioned to Xi the jailed Australians, and urged against an invasion of Taiwan. But check his silence as China tightens its grip on the Solomon Islands, just 2000km off Queensland and dominating our eastern sea lanes.

Before the election, Albanese flayed Morrison after China signed a military deal with the Solomons’ Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, allowing China’s navy access to its ports.

Albanese claimed Morrison hadn’t met Sogavare enough, and after the election showed how it was done, giving Sogavare a big hug.

If meetings were everything, the Solomons would no longer be a problem. But check the price of Albanese’s peace.

Sogavare has since postponed the Solomons’ election, banned US and British naval vessels, and sent 32 police to China to learn how to crush demonstrations. China this month donated two water cannon.

To that, Albanese said nothing. Worse, he last month sent Sogavare’s police 60 assault rifles to use against his people, and welcomed Sogavare to the Lodge as a friend.

Now his media boosters judge our relationship with China in what seems Albanese’s way: no screams mean few problems.

On Wednesday, ABC host Patricia Karvelas even scolded the Morrison Government’s “lack of gentle handling” of China, complaining its “tone was really problematic”.

Xi couldn’t have put it better.

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Australia’s relationship with China at a dangerous point