Joe Biden reveals China’s fears of US-Australia alliance

Joe Biden was grilled by Xi Jinping over America’s relationship with Australia, the US president revealed to Anthony Albanese. See what it means for the alliance.

Joe Biden has urged Anthony Albanese to be cautious as he tries to rebuild Australia’s battered relationship with China, while also revealing how Xi Jinping confronted him over his commitment to AUKUS and the US-Australia alliance.

The US President’s frank comments during the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House come before Mr Albanese’s scheduled meeting with the Chinese President in Beijing next month, the first such trip by an Australian leader since 2016.

Asked whether Australia could trust China – given its economic coercion, military aggression, cyber attacks, intellectual property theft and human rights abuses – Mr Biden responded by saying: “Trust, but verify.”

Anthony Albanese during a joint press conference with US President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

The US President made candid comments with regards to China and trust. Picture: AFP

Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden during a welcoming ceremony at the White House in Washington. Picture: AFP

He said the US was determined to compete with China “in every way according to international rules”, a position backed by Mr Albanese, who said his approach was to “co-operate where we can, disagree where we must but engage in our national interest”.

“It is in Australia’s interests, as well as China but I believe in the global interest for us to have a relationship where there is dialogue,” he said.

“Through dialogue comes understanding and comes a diffusion of tension. We want a peaceful and secure region.”

Earlier in the Oval Office, Mr Biden offered Mr Albanese an unprompted story of Mr Xi asking why he was “working so hard with your country”.

“I said, ‘because we’re a Pacific nation’,” Mr Biden said.

“We are, and we’re going to stay that way.”

The leaders held a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

Albanese and Biden also took a walk along the colonnade of the White House in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

The US President then revealed during his press conference with the Prime Minister that Mr Xi also questioned whether he was “trying to surround China” with the AUKUS pact.

Mr Biden said he told him the AUKUS partners were instead trying to keep Indo-Pacific sea lanes open and deter Chinese efforts to “change the rules of the road”.

AUKUS was a key focus of the talks between the leaders, with Mr Biden saying it was a question of “not if but when” the divided US Congress passed new laws to enable the sale of nuclear submarines to Australia and the sharing of advanced defence technology.

He urged them to move quickly on the legislation before the end of the year, a task that will be made easier by the election of a new House Speaker after three weeks of chaos.

“I’m going to try and I believe it will get done,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Albanese thanked the President for his support – including a proposed $US3.4bn investment in the US submarine industrial base to satisfy Republicans worried about the slow pace of production – and similarly said he was “very confident” the laws would pass.

“I regard the United States as a very reliable partner. And I regard the relationship that I have with the President as second to none other relationships that I have around the world or indeed domestically, for that matter,” the Prime Minister said.

US First Lady Jill Biden and Australia’s First Lady Jodie Haydon toured the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Picture: AFP

The visit showcased the collaboration between US and Australian researchers in paediatric cancer research. Picture: AFP

The National Institute of Health is one of the world’s foremost medical research centres and an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Picture: AFP

Their friendship was on display throughout a day of pomp and ceremony at the White House, during which the leaders also focused on what they called the “innovation alliance” with a long list of new agreements including to allow US commercial space launches from Australia, develop battery manufacturing capabilities and share critical minerals.

The President, in his address on the South Lawn in front of a crowd of almost 4000 people, said the alliance had “never been more important than it is today” and was “marked by imagination, ingenuity and innovation”.

He recalled how the words of Neil Armstrong were shared with the world by an Australian satellite dish – although he misquoted the astronaut’s iconic moon landing phrase, saying: “That’s one small step for man, and one giant step for mankind”.

“Australia and America stand ready to do the hard work, the historic work to tackle the challenges that we face. Ready to take a giant leap together toward a better future,” Mr Biden said.

During their press conference, the leaders also dealt with questions over the war in Israel, but when a US reporter pursued several follow-up queries, Mr Albanese shut him down by saying his policy in Australia was to only allow journalists “one question each”.

ALBO REVEALS MAJOR CHANGE TO US ALLIANCE

Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden will turn the US-Australia relationship into an “innovation alliance” with new agreements on space, artificial intelligence, defence technology and clean energy.

Amid fears the conflict in Israel and Ukraine may distract the US from the Indo-Pacific, the leaders will also unveil regional initiatives including undersea cables providing high-speed internet to the Pacific Islands and new trilateral military co-operation with Japan.

The Prime Minister’s four-day visit to Washington DC was due to culminate on Wednesday (local time) with critical talks with the President and his top officials before a state dinner.

In his speech at the White House welcome ceremony, Mr Albanese was expected to draw on the words of Mr Biden’s favourite Irish poet Seamus Heaney as well as his son Beau, an Iraq War veteran who died of brain cancer in 2015.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Hayden with US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the South Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

“While we do indeed face testing times, our friendship is tried and tested, our people are up for the challenge,” Mr Albanese was due to say.

“Our alliance has been shaped by history – and it is ready to shape the future. So, with optimism and determination, let us pledge to make this a time when hope and history rhyme.”

The future-facing announcements are expected to include a deal allowing US companies to launch into space from Australia, artificial intelligence partnerships in the wake of Microsoft’s $A5bn investment down under, and further collaboration on tapping into Australia’s abundance of critical minerals needed for the clean energy revolution.

A senior White House official said the leaders – in their ninth meeting since Mr Albanese was elected – were keen to reshape the relationship as an “innovation alliance”.

Enjoying a private dinner in Washington are (from left), US President Joe Biden, Jodie Haydon, First Lady Jill Biden and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: Anthony Albanese Instagram

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby rejected suggestions the US would lose its renewed focus in the Indo-Pacific, saying the region’s economic importance and “acute security challenges” put it “right at the top of the list” of the Biden administration’s priorities.

While he criticised China’s aggressive behaviour, he backed Mr Albanese’s upcoming meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping to strengthen lines of communication.

With progressing AUKUS a key priority for the Prime Minister, Mr Kirby said the President was “working very hard” to overcome the concerns of some Republicans about selling nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

“By and large, there’s strong bipartisan support for AUKUS,” he said.

A senior White House official added that a new plan to accelerate the second pillar of AUKUS on advanced military technologies – revealed by this masthead earlier this week – would be unveiled later this year by the three defence ministers in the security pact.

Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

On Tuesday night, Mr Albanese officially opened Australia’s new embassy in Washington DC. The building cost taxpayers $337m after a massive $100m blowout.

On Thursday, he will be hosted at the State Department for lunch by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where he is tipped to give a major address that he hoped to deliver before a joint sitting of Congress.

That plan was up-ended after Republicans ousted the House Speaker and refused to agree on a replacement, meaning no one was holding the role to formally invite Mr Albanese.

Mr Kirby said the visit was ultimately “a celebration of our partnership throughout the past century, and a commitment to facing the challenges and the opportunities of the 21st century”.

Originally published as Joe Biden reveals China’s fears of US-Australia alliance