
Australian prime minister indulges in panda diplomacy a China state visit nears end
The panda diplomacy stop Thursday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu highlighted Australia's special status as the only Southern Hemisphere country to host a pair of the rare Chinese native animals.
Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon visited a pen where they saw Fu Ni, a giant panda who had been on loan to Australia's Adelaide Zoo until last year.
'A great ambassador for China and a great friend of Australia,' Albanese said of Fu Ni as she chomped on bamboo.
China loans Australia pandas
Premier Li Qiang used a visit to the Adelaide Zoo last year to announce Fu Ni and her partner Wang Wang would be replaced by another China-born pair that will hopefully breed .
The new couple, Xing Qiu and Yi Yan, made their public debut in January at the zoo in the South Australia state capital where they are a major tourist attraction.
Albanese's China, which began Saturday and ends on Friday, is extraordinarily long compared with Australian state visits over the past decade and marks a normalization of bilateral relations that plumbed to new depths under the previous Australian government.
Albanese said he had visited Chengdu and the Great Wall of China, as well at the usual diplomatic destinations of Beijing and Shanghai, as a show of respect to the Chinese people.
'The Great Wall of China symbolises the extraordinary history and culture here in China, and showing a bit of respect to people never cost anything. But you know what it does? It gives you a reward,' Albanese told reporters.
'One of the things that I find about giving countries respect is that you get it back,' he added.
In 2020, Beijing banned minister-to-minister contacts and imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers on commodities including wine, beef, coal, barley and lobsters that cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year. This was a response to Australia's previous government demanding an independent inquiry into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the pandemic was the final straw, relations had been deteriorating for years over issues including laws banning covert foreign interference in Australian politics and Australia banning Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on security grounds from involvement in the national 5G network rollout.
The trade barriers have all been lifted since Albanese's center-left Labor Party was first elected in 2022. But now, the United States threatens to become a major disruptor to global trade through President Donald Trump's tariff regime.
Chinese president urges Australia to hold course
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Albanese at the outset of their bilateral meeting in Beijing Tuesday that the important thing their two countries had learned in repairing relations was that equal treatment, seeking common ground and pursuing cooperation served the interests of both.
'No matter how the international landscape may evolve, we should uphold this overall direction unswervingly,' Xi said through an interpreter. The comment was widely interpreted as a reference to U.S. tariffs.
Albanese replied that his government welcomed progressing cooperation under their decade-old bilateral free trade agreement.
'Australia will remain a strong supporter of free and fair trade,' Albanese said.
The United States has allocated Australia the minimum 10% tariff on U.S. imports. Australia argues that any tariff cannot be justified and that the U.S. has enjoyed a trade surplus with Australia for decades.
The greater economic damage for Australia would likely be from a Chinese economic downturn caused by its U.S. tariff treatment. Around a third of Australian exports go to China.
Australia shifts away from the US
James Laurenceson, director of the University of Technology Sydney's Australia-China Relations Institute, described China's presentation of itself as Australia's ally in defending free trade as 'self-serving."
'It's not so much Australia aligning with China. It's really just about Australia and China agreeing they've got a shared interest in the existing system, and it's the U.S. that's walking away from that,' Laurenceson said.
'I don't think the big shift this week is Australia getting closer to China. I think the distance with the United States is getting wider and wider,' he added.
Albanese's political enemies have criticised him for now having four face-to-face meetings with Xi – including two in Beijing – while the prime minister has yet to meet Trump in person.
Albanese and Trump were to hold a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada last month, but the U.S. president left early.
Albanese said this week he expected to meet Trump this year.
'I look forward to a constructive engagement with President Trump. We have had three constructive phone conversations,' Albanese said.
______
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Children to be banned from having YouTube accounts as Albanese government backflips on exemption
Children will be banned from having YouTube accounts from December, with the federal government backflipping on an earlier decision to exempt the video platform from the national under-16s social media restrictions. The decision, to be confirmed by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the communications minister, Anika Wells, on Wednesday, is likely to set off a furious reaction from the Google-owned YouTube, which will hold a major event for politicians in Parliament House on Wednesday night. YouTube argued it operated differently to other platforms and had been given an exemption to the world-leading under-16s social media ban by the former communications minister Michelle Rowland. But newly installed minister Wells has taken advice from the eSafety commissioner that the video platform should be included in the rules as it poses a threat to young people. 'The Albanese government is giving kids a reprieve from the persuasive and pervasive pull of social media while giving parents peace of mind,' Wells said, in announcing the move. 'There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.' YouTube will be included as one of the age-restricted social media platforms, alongside Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and others. Last month, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, citing a survey of 2,600 children, said nearly four in 10 children had reported exposure to harmful content on YouTube – 'the most frequently cited platform in our research'. Inman Grant noted that children would still be able to view YouTube videos when logged out as the legislation was limited to preventing children from having accounts. The under-16s ban comes into force in December, with platforms to face fines of up to $49.5m if they fail to take 'reasonable steps' to stop children from opening accounts. Some major tech platforms have privately raised concerns about a lack of information about what they must to do to meet the 'reasonable steps' test, including what new barriers or verification methods they must add to their services. The government is expected to share more information and guidance about such steps in coming months. Sign up: AU Breaking News email 'Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I'm calling time on it,' Albanese said. 'Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.' The government on Wednesday will table a set of rules in parliament about which online services will not be captured under the social media ban, making clear that gaming platforms, messaging apps and health services will not be included. YouTube had previously been given a carveout from the social media ban, with former minister Rowland telling parliament that the video platform would be lumped alongside the likes of ReachOut's PeerChat, Kids Helpline's MyCircle and Google Classroom, apps 'that can be shown to function like social media in their interactivity but operate with a significant purpose to enable young people to get the education and health support they need'. Meta, TikTok and Snapchat had strongly criticised the YouTube carveout, arguing that it functioned similarly to their services and should not be treated differently, calling for a 'level playing field'. TikTok called YouTube's exemption a 'sweetheart deal', and saying it was 'irrational and indefensible'. YouTube last week wrote to the government, vowing to consider legal action if it was included in the ban. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'YouTube is a video sharing platform, not a social media service, that offers benefit and value to younger Australians,' a spokesperson said on Sunday. Albanese said on Sunday said the government would make its decision 'independent of any of these threats that are made by the social media companies'. Google on Wednesday night will hold its annual 'Google at Parliament House' event, a popular function spruiking Google products. Previous instalments have featured the Wiggles as entertainment, while invitations seen by Guardian Australia advertise local act the Rubens for this week's lineup. Invitations spruik that guests can 'hear from partners, businesses and meet some of Australia's most beloved YouTube Creators, including the Mik Maks and Never Too Small'. Large numbers of politicians and political staffers attend the event each year. Wells said the government remained committed to the legislation. 'We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are,' she said. 'There is no one perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safer online – but the social media minimum age will make a significantly positive difference to their wellbeing.'


The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Children to be banned from having YouTube accounts as Albanese government backflips on exemption
Children will be banned from having YouTube accounts from December, with the federal government backflipping on an earlier decision to exempt the video platform from the national under-16s social media restrictions. The decision, to be confirmed by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the communications minister, Anika Wells, on Wednesday, is likely to set off a furious reaction from the Google-owned YouTube, which will hold a major event for politicians in Parliament House on Wednesday night. YouTube argued it operated differently to other platforms and had been given an exemption to the world-leading under-16s social media ban by the former communications minister Michelle Rowland. But newly installed minister Wells has taken advice from the eSafety commissioner that the video platform should be included in the rules as it poses a threat to young people. 'The Albanese government is giving kids a reprieve from the persuasive and pervasive pull of social media while giving parents peace of mind,' Wells said, in announcing the move. 'There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.' YouTube will be included as one of the age-restricted social media platforms, alongside Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and others. Last month, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, citing a survey of 2,600 children, said nearly four in 10 children had reported exposure to harmful content on YouTube – 'the most frequently cited platform in our research'. Inman Grant noted that children would still be able to view YouTube videos when logged out as the legislation was limited to preventing children from having accounts. The under-16s ban comes into force in December, with platforms to face fines of up to $49.5m if they fail to take 'reasonable steps' to stop children from opening accounts. Some major tech platforms have privately raised concerns about a lack of information about what they must to do to meet the 'reasonable steps' test, including what new barriers or verification methods they must add to their services. The government is expected to share more information and guidance about such steps in coming months. Sign up: AU Breaking News email 'Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I'm calling time on it,' Albanese said. 'Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.' The government on Wednesday will table a set of rules in parliament about which online services will not be captured under the social media ban, making clear that gaming platforms, messaging apps and health services will not be included. YouTube had previously been given a carveout from the social media ban, with former minister Rowland telling parliament that the video platform would be lumped alongside the likes of ReachOut's PeerChat, Kids Helpline's MyCircle and Google Classroom, apps 'that can be shown to function like social media in their interactivity but operate with a significant purpose to enable young people to get the education and health support they need'. Meta, TikTok and Snapchat had strongly criticised the YouTube carveout, arguing that it functioned similarly to their services and should not be treated differently, calling for a 'level playing field'. TikTok called YouTube's exemption a 'sweetheart deal', and saying it was 'irrational and indefensible'. YouTube last week wrote to the government, vowing to consider legal action if it was included in the ban. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'YouTube is a video sharing platform, not a social media service, that offers benefit and value to younger Australians,' a spokesperson said on Sunday. Albanese said on Sunday said the government would make its decision 'independent of any of these threats that are made by the social media companies'. Google on Wednesday night will hold its annual 'Google at Parliament House' event, a popular function spruiking Google products. Previous instalments have featured the Wiggles as entertainment, while invitations seen by Guardian Australia advertise local act the Rubens for this week's lineup. Invitations spruik that guests can 'hear from partners, businesses and meet some of Australia's most beloved YouTube Creators, including the Mik Maks and Never Too Small'. Large numbers of politicians and political staffers attend the event each year. Wells said the government remained committed to the legislation. 'We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are,' she said. 'There is no one perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safer online – but the social media minimum age will make a significantly positive difference to their wellbeing.'


BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
China dey offer parents $1,500 to encourage dem to born more children
Dem dey offer parents in China 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of dia children under di age of three in di goment first nationwide subsidy wey aim to boost birth rates. Di kontri birth rate son dey fall, even afta di ruling Communist Party bin abolish di controversial one-child policy almost a decade ago. Di handouts go help around 20 million families wit di cost of raising children, according to state media. Several provinces across China get piloted some form of pay outs to encourage pipo to have more children as di world second largest economy face a looming demographic crisis. Di scheme, wey dem announce on Monday, dey offer parents a total of up to 10,800 yuan per child. Di policy dey applied retroactively from di start of dis year, Beijing state broadcaster CCTV tok. Families wit children wey dem born between 2022 and 2024 fit also apply for partial subsidies. Di move follow efforts by local goments to boost birth rates in China. In March, Hohhot - a city in di northern region of China - begin offer residents up to 100,000 yuan per baby for couples wit at least three children. Shenyang, a city northeast of Beijing, dey offer 500 yuan a month to local families wit a third child under three. Last week, Beijing dey also urged local goments to draft plans to implement free preschool education. Di kontri dey among di world most expensive places to have children, in relative terms, according to a study by China-based YuWa Population Research Institute. To raise a child to di age of 17 in China dey cost an average of $75,700, di study find. In January, official figures show say China population bin fall for a third year in a row in 2024. China bin record 9.54 million babies born in 2024, according to di National Bureau of Statistics. Dat mark a slight increase from di year bifor but di kontri overall population continue to shrink. Di kontri 1.4 billion population also dey age fast, add to Beijing demographic concerns.