PETER VAN ONSELEN: How Xi buttered up Anthony Albanese with a VERY rare personal gesture to Jodie Haydon - and it left the PM beaming
It had everything: soft power symbolism, panda photo ops, nostalgic Aussie rock ballads and even a surprise starring role for the Prime Minister's fiancée, Jodie Haydon.
Forget shouting into megaphones. This was diplomacy by lunch invitation and curated playlists, and it seems to have worked. Albanese looked less like a wary Western leader managing a complex bilateral relationship and more like a man thoroughly enjoying all the flattery.
At the centre of the spectacle was his meeting (and a private lunch, no less) with President Xi Jinping. Not only did Xi extend the diplomatic red carpet, he also invited Jodie to join the lunch soirée, a gesture rarely offered to visiting leaders' partners.
For Albanese, it was a clear signal of Beijing's intent to present a warmer, more open face of Chinese diplomacy. 'It was a sign of respect to Australia', he proudly said.
But it was more than a simple diplomatic nod. The presence of Haydon, seated beside Xi and Albo in the opulent Great Hall, was China's way of saying 'we're not just wooing your government'.
With Albo expected to marry later this year, this was Beijing's version of 'meet the parents'. Xi wasn't just trying to charm a PM, he was buttering up the presumptive First Lady too.
And then came the soundtrack. During a gala dinner with Chinese and Australian business leaders, a band played a setlist straight out of Albanese's youth: Paul Kelly's To Her Door, Midnight Oil's Power and the Passion, even a rendition of Powderfinger.
This wasn't random, it was meticulously chosen to speak to Albo's political identity: the working-class music fan from inner Sydney who likes to DJ.
Maybe China will be on their honeymoon list?
'They did it very well', Albo beamed. 'Those gestures matter', he added.
Beijing understood that the personal is political and hit every note. One could almost hear the Stratocaster guitar strings being pulled.
The whole trip had an undercurrent of Labor nostalgia, too. Albanese's visit to the Great Wall was a not-so-subtle nod to his political hero Gough Whitlam, who made history there in 1973 when he re-established relations with China.
For Albo, this trip was a symbolic full circle moment: the current Labor leader retracing Whitlam's footsteps, casting himself as a statesman with vision, even if the present-day geopolitical environment is arguably considerably more fraught.
But for all the pageantry, the PM still has to justify the trip back home, particularly to those more interested in cost of living pressures than Communist Party pleasantries.
When asked what the trip meant for average Australians, Albo said: 'From Beijing to Bankstown, what we need is to engage in our national interest…to be focused on cost-of-living, on jobs, on living standards. And that depends on our trade'. China is Australia's largest trading partner.
Alongside the formal talks, Albo also visited the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, no coincidence for a PM with a long standing love of the sport.
Then came a stop at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China's crown jewel of soft diplomacy. There, he admired the pandas. 'They're beautiful animals', he said as cameras clicked.
The entire visit was a textbook case of soft power in action: China using symbolism, sentiment and star pandas to reframe the bilateral relationship.
From the music to the animals to the guest list at lunch, every gesture had the purpose of reminding Australia of the benefits of good behaviour as the Middle Kingdom's rise continues.
Still, beneath the smiling photo ops, deeper questions remain. What concessions might Australia now feel pressure to make in return for this reset?
And how will this trip age if tensions inevitably flare again, over Taiwan, the South China Sea or human rights?
For nowm Albo returns home with a diplomatic win, alongside a panda selfie or two for the family album.
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