What Albo will say to Xi Jinping
The Prime Minister has had a cruisy two days being wooed by Chinese officials and business leaders in the glitzy beauty of central Shanghai.
He and his hosts have been keen to boast the boons of deep bilateral trade and tourism ties, emerging from meetings starry-eyed about the future of an economic partnership despite the spectre of an increasingly militaristic regional rivalry.
But when Mr Albanese meets the Chinese President on Tuesday, there will be no escaping the touchy topics. Anthony Albanese with Australian businessman Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest at an event in Shanghai on Monday. NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer Credit: News Corp Australia
The Chinese have already indicated they will raise the Port of Darwin, which is leased to Chinese logistics giant Landbridge Holdings.
A former state media propagandist-turned influencer warned of 'countermeasures' if the Albanese government follows through with its election vow to break the 99-year lease.
But speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Albanese doubled down on the promise, saying his government has 'a very clear position' and that Mr Xi 'is very clear and knowledgeable of that'.
'We have a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership,' he said before departing for Beijing.
'We've been clear about it, we've been orderly about it, and we will go through that process.' Mr Albanese has been careful not to pre-empt how his meeting with the world's second-most powerful leader will go.
'I'll treat him with the respect that I would any leader of another country and not foreshadow everything today,' he said in his Monday remarks.
But he did give some hints on what touchy topics he might have of his own, such as the detention of detention of Australian writer and pro-democracy activist Yang Hengiun.
Mr Yang was given a suspended death sentence last year after spending five years behind bars on espionage charges – charges he denies.
'We always raise issues of Australian citizens, and if you look at my record, it's not too bad,' Mr Albanese boasted when asked about Mr Yang.
'I'll put my record there of successfully advocating for Australian citizens, some of which has been criticised when we've been successful.' Mr Albanese was flanked by Socceroos great turned Shanghai Port FC coach Kevin Muscat earlier in the China visit. NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer Credit: News Corp Australia
Human rights more broadly could also be on the agenda.
Aside from detaining Australians on trumped-up charges, Canberra has protested China's enslavement of Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang province and demanded it implement recommendations made in a UN report.
Speaking on Chinese soil in the presence of Chinese officials, Mr Albanese simply repeated his China mantra, saying his government 'will co-operate wherever we can' and 'disagree where we must'.
'We disagree where we must and we put forward our position clearly where we have disagreements,' he said.
He flatly refused to say if he would mention the Chinese warships that carried out live-fire drills as they circumnavigated Australia earlier this year. Chinese warships circumnavigated Australia earlier this year. Australian Defence Force Credit: Supplied
He also would not comment on whether he would bring up China's support for Russia in its years-long war on Ukraine.
There will be space for positives, though, with Mr Albanese eager to quell concerns of a future conflict through trade – an approach Europe took with Russia under Vladimir Putin.
He said it was 'important to recognise … that the economic relationship is obviously based on upon a stable and secure region'.
'We've seen the disruption that occurs when there is conflict in the world,' Mr Albanese said.
'That's why we need to make sure that we do everything we can to promote peace and security in the region.'
He added building people-to-people ties was key to keeping the peace.
It is a stark contrast to warnings from Washington that China could up-end regional peace by invading Taiwan as early as 2027.
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