Albanese walks trade-security tightrope before Xi meeting
As Albanese prepares for a grand welcome at his meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, the final day of his two-day stop in Shanghai was centred on Australia's financial ties with its biggest trading partner.
Trade will be central to Albanese's talks with Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang – who famously referred to Albanese as a 'handsome boy' in 2023 – on Tuesday. But disagreements are likely to make the agenda, including China's frustration with Australia's decision to force a Chinese firm to end its lease over the Port of Darwin due to security concerns.
Albanese said his government would not be deterred when asked if he believed China might retaliate against the move, Chinese-owned firm Landbridge having leased the asset since 2015.
'The answer to that is no,' the prime minister said at a press conference in Shanghai's Peninsula Hotel.
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'We had a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership. We've been very clear about it … and we will go through that process.'
On the economic front, the prime minister said Donald Trump's trade war might benefit Australia because Asian nations hit by tariffs might turn their attention from the US to Australia.
Albanese said he was solely focused on his trip to China when asked if he was closer to securing a meeting with Trump, noting that previous Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Fraser had met with Chinese leaders before seeing their US counterparts.
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