Anthony Albanese urges Joe Biden to set China strategy

Anthony Albanese is calling on US president-elect Joe Biden to set out a regional strategy to deal with China and focus his attention on South-East Asia.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Anthony Albanese is calling on US president-elect Joe Biden to set out a regional strategy to deal with China and focus his attention on South-East Asia, as the Opposition Leader lays out his vision for the Australia-US alliance if Labor wins the next federal election.

In a speech to the USAsia Centre in Perth on Wednesday, Mr Albanese will say Australia will have to pave the way for a more multilaterally-minded US Democrat administration to re-engage with Asia following Donald Trump’s “America First” stance.

If Scott Morrison calls a federal poll this year or early next, either he or Mr Albanese will have to deal with Mr Biden and his administration for the majority of the next parliamentary term.

Mr Albanese will argue that Mr Biden — who will be sworn in early on Thursday morning AEDT — will need to better define future trade competition between the US and China as the current Trump-led trade war and the ­initial deal in its aftermath have seen Australian farmers lose out to US producers.

“It’s more likely to succeed if president Biden plays to America’s strengths and puts some clearer definition around the terms of ­future US-China competition,” he will say. “This should allow the US and its allies to defend clear red lines, but also enable coexistence. This is also clearly in Australia’s interests.

“A key task for Australia will be ensuring any settling point that is reached between the two powers will take account of the interests of the countries of the Indo-Pacific. “Labor sees the need for a US strategy that strengthens the international rules, provides credible offers of support to regional countries, and boosts prosperity.”

Under the phase one trade deal with the Trump administration signed earlier last year, Beijing has agreed to buy $US50bn ($65bn) in agricultural products, $US50bn in energy supplies and $US75bn in manufacturing products.

Mr Albanese has long argued the phase one deal will hurt Australian producers, who will lose market share, and he will say he is hopeful the Biden administration with take this country’s trade concerns into deeper consideration.

“It was an encouraging start to see incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s expression of solidarity for Australia in the face of China’s recent trade sanctions against our exporters.

“This stood in contrast to the Trump administration’s trade war with China, which saw little attention in Washington to the risk that Australian farmers would lose market share to US competitors because of Chinese action.”

Labor will, in this potential election year, brand itself as the party of multilateralism against the Prime Minister’s concerns about “negative globalism” and his criticisms of some institutions such as the UN.

In his USAsia Centre speech, Mr Albanese will call for Mr Biden to prioritise attending the next East Asia summit and to put greater effort into South-East Asian countries such as Indonesia.

“Australia’s interests call for a greater, more strategic effort from the US in South-East Asia. As a driver of economic growth, and a focal point of great-power competition, it is a region that requires consistent support from key partners,” he will say.

“Australia should be doing all it can to help show the way for the US to support Indo-Pacific regional pandemic recovery, reinforce ASEAN centrality and strengthen regional architecture.”