Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged concerns about current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visiting Beijing next week.
Mr. Albanese is visiting Beijing from Nov. 4 to 7 and will talk with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The prime minister is intending to “stabilise” the Australia-China relationship during his trip.
Mr. Morrison, who is currently in London for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference, said China is backing Russia against Ukraine and “can’t say” Hamas when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“You’ve got to ask yourself about how the optics of those sorts of things can be misused.”
While Mr. Morrison was confident Mr. Albanese would go to China with the best of intentions to present Australia’s national interest, he is concerned about how the communist regime will exploit the visit.
“He cannot control what the Communist Party in China will do with that [visit] and how those images will be used, and how it can be taken advantage of,” Mr. Morrison told the publication.
Details of Beijing Visit
While in China, Mr. Albanese is also planning to meet with Premier Li Qiang and visit the China International Import Expo.Mr. Albanese said it would be an important visit and noted China is aware of Australia’s alliance with the United States.
South China Sea Questions
Asked if he will be asking some tough questions about the South China Sea, Mr. Albanese said, “We certainly will,” elaborating that the “UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is very important.”“It’s an important passageway for Australia’s trade up to Japan and Korea. And it’s important that international laws be respected. And so, we have engaged on those issues. And we‘ll continue to raise them with China, but we’ll raise them directly to them. They know where we stand on these issues,” Mr. Albanese said.
The prime minister described the visit to China as positive, citing breakthroughs in removing impediments to trade and the return of journalist Cheng Lei.
Biden Warning to Australia
Last week, President Joe Biden warned Australia to “trust but verify” China when asked if the regime could be trusted during a joint press conference with Mr. Albanese last week.“‘Trust but verify’ is the phrase. And, look, China is having their own internal and external difficulties right now. China’s economic growth is stagnant compared to what it was. China has engaged in activities that Russia and many other activities that others have engaged in in terms of intimidation and dealing with other countries,” Mr. Biden said.
“But the fact is that I have met with Xi Jinping more than any other world leader has. I’ve had over 68 hours of private meetings, just he and I with simultaneous interpreters—starting back when I was vice president.”
The two leaders held bilateral meetings, a private dinner, and an official state dinner with 300 guests at the White House.
Australia and the United States announced they would partner on a US$65 million submarine cable project connecting multiple Pacific Island nations to the internet.
The joint initiative aims to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.