‘Beware of bully Xi Jinping’s strategy of flattery’, says Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison says China is ‘charming and flattering’ Anthony Albanese in an attempt to isolate Australia from the US, arguing a change in approach from Beijing did not alter its underlying motives to ‘block out rivals’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Xinhua News Agency

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Scott Morrison says China is “charming and flattering” ­Anthony Albanese in an attempt to isolate Australia from the ­US, arguing a change in approach from Beijing since lifting its trade sanctions did not alter its underlying motives to “block out rivals”.

As a former George W. Bush adviser warns of growing divisiveness between the US and Australia, fuelling Coalition demands the Prime Minister urgently prioritise is relationship in Washington, foreign affairs experts ­observed Mr Albanese was ­becoming increasingly “confident about warming up ties with China without paying any domestic political price”.

However, as the prime minister who weathered the worst of Beijing’s trade sanctions in recent times, Mr Morrison issued a stark warning over Xi Jinping’s change of tack since Labor took power.

“China’s plan back then was to isolate us from the US by bullying us,” Mr Morrison told The Australian. “Their plan now is to isolate us from the US charming and flattering us.”

The comments from the former Coalition leader came as he reflected on the series of strict trade sanctions on products including beef, wine and barley that were enforced by China in 2020, after Australia became one of the first countries to openly demand an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19.

Despite the last of those sanctions being removed in 2024, Mr Morrison said it was clear Beijing was still seeking to exert its trade dominance over other countries.

“China’s plan is to dominate, control the price, block out rivals,” he said. “China massively subsidises production to block out competitors and this gives them their dominant position. This is exactly what China has done on critical minerals and rare earths for 20 years.”

While refusing to say explicitly whether or not he trusted the Chinese President, Mr Albanese reiterated that he and Mr Xi shared mutual respect and that his trip across China had resulted in “constructive engagement” between the two parties.

The Prime Minister compared this to circumstances under the Coalition government, which hadn’t managed “a phone conversation between a single minister in Australia and our major trading partner”.

“This visit marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship. A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia’s national interest,” Mr Albanese said on Friday ahead of returning to Australia at the end of his six-day China visit. “Strengthening our security and economic interests with our largest trading partner will boost Australian jobs and support Australian businesses. I used my engagements in China to advocate for Australia’s interests including on trade, consular, human rights and regional and global issues.”

Mr Albanese denied he had been “cosying up” to China, during what was his second official visit to the country, while allowing the Australia-US relationship to languish.

28/06/2019 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with President Xi Jinping during the G20 in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. Picture: Adam Taylor/PMO

But former Defence Department analyst and critic of the AUKUS agreement Hugh White said while the Labor leader had clearly wanted to “avoid the ­appearance of going too far with China” in his first term, that sentiment had changed.

“He has moved on from that. I believe this is a significant visit ­because it shows Albanese far more confident about warming up ties with China without paying any domestic political price,” Professor White told The Australian’s Inquirer.

The comments come amid ongoing Coalition criticism of Mr Albanese’s trip, which opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan on Friday called a “working holiday” that had not achieved any tangible outcomes.

Despite declaring it was clear that China “got what it wanted” from the Prime Minister’s visit, Professor White said he didn’t believe what the CCP had wanted “has been to Australia’s disadvantage”.

He did note, however, that China’s “fundamental ambition” was to push the US out of Asia and take its place. “No matter how we manage this day-to-day diplomatic tension and how successfully we manage it, the fundamental conflict remains the same,” he said.

Concerns over Australia’s relationship with Washington ramped up this week after Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Indonesia, while having not even met Mr Albanese face-to-face.

Sussan Ley said the development made clear Australia was “not in the room” when it came to the US making trade decisions.

“It’s probably close to 260 days since the President was elected, and that meeting hasn’t taken place,” the Opposition Leader told the Today Show.

Amid tensions between Canberra and Washington, Jim Chalmers on Friday imparted some blame on US tariffs for Australia’s shock unemployment figure of 4.3 per cent – a four-year high.

Anthony Albanese addresses the media at The Great Wall of China. Picture: Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer/NewsWire

When asked if tariffs were one reason employers weren’t hiring workers, the Treasurer said “that’s certainly the feedback that we get around the place”, in his most explicit linking of the US tariffs and Australia’s unemployment rate.

It comes as former US assistant secretary of state under George W. Bush, Evan Feigenbaum, warns there are increasing “conflicts of expectation” between the US and Australia that could easily lead to crisis.

“There will eventually be a crisis in the alliance if policymakers on both sides do not address four expectation gaps — and win social license from the Australian public,” he writes in a paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Australia under its current budget cannot afford both the full scope of investments envisioned under AUKUS and the other needed investments in conventional capabilities.

“The two sides risk a divisive debate about the geography of tactical and operational focus. America’s attention is focused squarely on Taiwan and northeast Asia. But this lies far away from the traditional emphasis of Australian strategic policy.”

Questions around Australia’s position on Taiwan were raised during Mr Albanese’s trip to China, when state media reported that the Prime Minister had assured Mr Xi Australia did not support Taiwanese independence.

“What we do is continue to support a one-China policy. We support the status quo,” Mr Albanese said.

In contrast, opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said earlier this week that there should be a joint commitment with the US to the security of Taiwan.

But Mr Taylor – who ran against Ms Ley for Coalition leadership in May – denied his comment represented any kind of shift in the party’s position.

“We are committed to a status quo in or around Taiwan. To achieve that, we need strength and deterrence,” he said on Sky News.

“The most provocative thing of all is weakness. What we fear we are seeing from the Labor Party is weakness.”

Additional reporting: Greg Brown