Albanese in Washington: Joe Biden warns PM against trusting Beijing
Standing alongside Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden also scolded China’s navy for conducting ‘dangerous and unlawful’ naval manoeuvres near the Philippines.
President Joe Biden cautioned Australia against fully trusting China and warned “extremist” Israeli settlers not to pour “oil on the fire” in the Middle East, in a joint press conference with Anthony Albanese at the White House a few hours before he will host the prime minister for a state visit.
In his first press conference since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, Mr Biden also scolded China’s navy for conducting “dangerous and unlawful” manoeuvres within the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone territory, suggesting the US would go to war to defend its Asian ally.
“I want to be clear on to be very clear, the United States defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad… any attack on Filipino aircraft vessels, would invoke our mutual defence treaty with the Philippines,” the president said, during a press conference focused on geopolitical tensions and the strength of the Australia-US alliance.
As the Israeli defence forces began their operation to destroy Hamas in the Gaza strip following the terror group’s attacks that left thousands of Israeli’s dead, Mr Biden told assembled reporters that he was “alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank [and] pouring gasoline on the fire”.
“This was a deal, and they’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be. It has to stop that have to be held accountable, it has to stop now,” he added, in comments some interpreted as a shift in tone from his address to the nation last week, which was strongly supportive of Israel.
Asked by The Australian’s chief political correspondent Geoff Chambers whether Australia should trust China in the context of Mr Albanese’s forthcoming visit Beijing early next month, Mr Biden said “trust and verify is the phrase”.
The president had earlier, seated next to Mr Albanese in the Oval Office for one-on-one discussions, revealed to gathered reporters that Chinese president Xi Jinping once asked him why the US was “working so hard” with Australia.
“I was asked by Xi Jinping a couple of years ago why I was working so hard with your country,” Mr Biden told reporters at the start of the two leaders’ one on one meeting.
“I said we’re a Pacific nation. He looked at me and I said yeah, we’re a Pacific nation, the United States. We are and we’re going to stay that way”.
Mr Biden’s comment came ahead of Mr Albanese’s planned travel to China to meet the Chinese leader in early November, the first prime ministerial visit to China since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.
The US and Australia formally revealed a raft of new economic and defence measures to shore up their influence in the Pacific to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
The White House in a statement issued on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) said Australia and the US would “enhance Trilateral Defence Cooperation with Japan”, alongside reiterating their support for Ukraine’s efforts to eject Russian forces from its territory.
“Our cooperation will enhance interoperability and accelerate technology transfer in the rapidly emerging field of collaborative combat aircraft and autonomy,” the statement said.
Reaffirming their commitment to AUKUS, the two allies also unveiled a slew of subsidies for Pacific Island nations, mostly revolving around internet connectivity, the laying of undersea cables, and access to banking services for the far flung, often tiny, set of island nations that China has tried to peel away from the western orbit.
“Together our countries plan to invest a total of US$65 million in support of enhancing secure, resilient connectivity in the Pacific Islands by working with Google, AP Telecom, and Hawaiki Nui to provide branching units for the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu,” it said.
Initiatives related to climate change, innovation, and cybersecurity featured prominently in the statement alongside plans to boost co-operation in space technology, including “a Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that provides the legal and technical framework for US commercial space launch vehicles to launch from Australia”.
Some US and Australian security hawks had been anxious about the optics of Mr Albanese’s three-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s visit to China and cessation of damaging trade bans.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to arrive in Washington on Thursday (Friday AEDT), the same day Mr Albanese heads back to Australia.
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