Albanese-Xi talks should help stabilise relationship

For the simple reason that it happened after six years of China’s banishing Australia to the deep freeze, the 32-minute meeting between Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the edge of the G20 summit in Bali was constructive. At this stage, the outcome is symbolic rather than practical, although business is optimistic that China’s bans on $20bn worth of Australian exports will be gradually reversed over time. Warwick Smith, head of the Business Council’s international committee, told The Australian the goodwill generated would open new opportunities as it cascaded into the Chinese bureaucracy, which would recognise “this is where their leader wants to go”. If high-level ministerial and other exchanges flourish, it will be win-win for both nations. After six years, “hopefully things will now be moving in the right direction – we need to fix some of the trade problems,’’ Mr Smith said. The trade bans have been a chastening experience, but Australian exporters and trade officials have excelled in developing new markets for the nation’s high-quality commodities and services. That process needs to be continued.

Mr Xi was notably effusive at the leaders’ meeting. The China-Australia relationship, he said, “deserves to be cherished by us’’. He thanked the Prime Minister for his efforts to handle the bilateral relations in a “mature manner” and said he valued Mr Albanese’s opinion. Mr Xi also recalled visiting every Australian state and territory. The two leaders had a further, four-minute chat at the G20 dinner, which included Mr Xi’s wife, Madam Peng, who speaks fluent English.

As Mr Albanese says, the meeting was an “important step forward” yet the key pressure points in the relationship remain. Mr Albanese raised the subject of Beijing’s trade bans and called for the release of detained Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun. Television journalist Cheng Lei, 47, who has been detained in China over allegations of providing state secrets, has again had the outcome of her trial delayed until next year. Mr Xi brought up China’s unhappiness with investment hurdles for Chinese businesses in Australia.

While the thawing of the bilateral relationship is welcome, it does not alter the increasing geostrategic challenges in Australia’s region. These include China’s military build-up, the largest in the world for 70 years; its illegal occupation and militarisation of islands in the South China Sea; its determination to take back Taiwan, by force if necessary; its “debt diplomacy’’ among developing nations; its cyber incursions; and its quashing the promised “one country, two systems’’ approach to Hong Kong. As Paul Kelly wrote on Wednesday, the meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Albanese was a diplomatic breakthrough for the Albanese government “ but nobody should think this constitutes any strategic reset by Australia’’.

If, as former foreign minister Alexander Downer says, the meeting signals an end to China’s “wolf warrior diplomacy” and quells fears of war in the region, its benefits will be long lasting. A peaceful and more mature contemporary relationship would benefit both nations, which have economies that are complementary, as Mr Albanese noted.

It remains to be seen whether the meeting between Mr Xi and Joe Biden eases tensions between the superpowers. China respects and understands strong defences. The promising improvement in the bilateral relationship has come about despite Australia’s increasingly active participation in the US alliance at the Top End, our deepening military ties with Japan, the AUKUS pact with the US and Britain, and our involvement in the Quad.

Modernising our defences and the review led by former ADF chief Sir Angus Houston and former defence minister Stephen Smith are vital to national security.