Kevin Rudd says talk of Xi Jinping demise is premature

Kevin Rudd said talk of Xi Jinping’s political demise had been greatly overstated, urging the US and Chinese militaries to resume regular dialogue.

Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, has poured cold water on the prospect Xi Jinping could be toppled, singling out suspension of routine talks between the US and Chinese militaries as one of the biggest issues to be resolved when President Joe Biden meets the veteran Chinese leader in San Francisco.

Speaking in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), Dr Rudd, who will also attend the APEC summit from Wednesday, said the suspension of routine talks between the Chinese and US militaries three years ago as relations soured was “really dangerous”.

“Every time there’s an incident, no one’s there to pick up the phone, so at a very mechanical level, those of us who follow this closely have been urging our Chinese friends to get these dialogue channels back open,” he added.

In what Dr Rudd said were his “personal reflections”, he also said predictions of Mr Xi’s political demise, fuelled by declining Chinese economic growth and rumours of political instability, were premature.

“When people might think, too rapidly conclude, that Xi Jinping leadership is in trouble, I think that is a wrong conclusion,” he told the Asia Society, the think tank the former prime minister led until he took up his position as Australian ambassador to the US this year.

“These sorts of purges actually have been going on for the last 10 years at one level or another,” he said, referring to the recent purges of two senior ministers within the past year that rocked international diplomacy.

He praised the Albanese government’s approach to seek to “normalise” relations with Beijing after years of “being in the freezer”. Anthony Albanese this month became the first prime minster to visit China since 2016, meeting Mr Xi in Beijing.

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