Whitlam, Nixon, Albanese: PM uses Great Wall to place himself in history
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'We don't shout with a megaphone,' he remarked, referring to his predecessor Scott Morrison's confrontational diplomatic style that drew China's ire.
If chumminess is the name of the game, China knew which buttons to press when Albanese came to town.
The pub-rock-loving PM was treated to Chinese covers of Powderfinger, Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil at dinner in Beijing's Great Hall on Tuesday.
Power and the Passion was the Oils' song played, according to Albanese. The lyrics from the activist band's hit are pro-Whitlam and make jabs at 'Uncle Sam' and the Pine Gap intelligence facility – all made in the context of paranoia around the US' role in Whitlam's 1975 dismissal.
Albanese and Xi were splashed on page one of the China Daily, a state media publication. Russia's foreign minister, who met Xi on the same day as the PM, was relegated to page three despite Russia's 'no limits' relationship with China.
'They did the full kit and caboodle. And so, it was a splendid occasion,' Albanese said.
It's hard to see how China's wooing of Albanese makes ambassador Kevin Rudd's job any easier in Washington as he works to preserve the AUKUS pact in talks with the China hawks in the Trump administration.
The Great Wall, usually jammed with tourists, was cleared for Albanese's visit. Freeways across Shanghai and Beijing were also closed off for the prime minister's motorcades, with Australian flags lining the streets.
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After a short press conference – decked in his Rabbitohs cap and tennis shoes – Albanese went for a walk up the wall with a tour guide and his fiancee Jodie Haydon.
Once the money shot was in view, he took off his Ray-Bans, asked the guide and translator to move aside, shooed reporters and assorted hangers-on out of the way, cleared the path ahead of him for what he clearly expects will become an iconic photo in the same stretch of the wall as Whitlam.
Even while feeling the weight of history, Albanese had his nuptials on his mind after photographers captured the scenic shot.
'Anyone here a celebrant?' he asked with a smirk.
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