Latest news with #IndoPacificFour
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Albo to visit Beijing before Washington
Anthony Albanese is set to fly to the Chinese capital Beijing next month to meet with Xi Jinping, NewsWire understands. The meeting will be the Prime Minister's fourth face-to-face with the president of Australia's main regional rival. Meanwhile, a time for an in-person meet with Donald Trump remains up the in the air despite calls for him to fly to Washington. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for a fourth time. NewsWire / Martin Ollman / AFP / Noel Celis Credit: NewsWire Mr Albanese was scheduled to meet the US President on the sidelines of the G7 last week, but the talks fell through after Mr Trump bailed on the summit due to the conflict in the Middle East. He was considering attending the NATO Summit in the Netherlands this week but ultimately decided against it. Mr Albanese argued Australia would be an outlier by sending its national leader, even though his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon has attended. He defended the decision on Tuesday. 'The president of Korea is not there, the prime minister of Japan is not there,' Mr Albanese told Sky News. 'In terms of the (Indo Pacific Four), three of the four leaders aren't there. 'That was a part of the decision-making process that we made. 'NATO is about NATO – it's about all of the countries that are a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. 'Of course, it is appropriate that the Defence Minister attend the meeting.' Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles is attending the summit and could meet Mr Trump. More to come.
Perth Now
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
‘Not on the agenda': Big Trump admission
When Australia's top leadership will meet Donald Trump in the flesh remains unknown, after Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles admitted a face-to-face with the US President is not scheduled at this week's NATO Summit. Mr Marles is in the Netherlands for the summit representing Australia as one of the Indo Pacific Four (IP4) – non-NATO countries that work closely with the military alliance in the region. Nikkei has reported Mr Trump was seeking to meet with IP4 representatives amid growing concerns of a Chinese threat, described by his administration as potentially 'imminent'. Mr Marles, who is also defence minister, said overnight a meeting was 'not specifically on the agenda', hastily adding that he 'wouldn't want to overstate any of that'. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has admitted a meeting with US President Donald Trump is not yet scheduled at this week's NATO Summit. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'I think we are in large rooms with lots of people, and these meetings, gatherings like this, end up being pretty fluid in terms of the bilaterals that you end up organising,' he told reporters from The Hague. 'But look, it is a really significant gathering for us to attend, and the importance of the NATO Summit has grown in terms of the way in which we engage with the world.' He added that how events in the Indo Pacific and in the North Atlantic 'are influencing each other is growing'. 'What's happening here in Europe, what's happening, specifically in the war in Ukraine is engaging Australia's national interests, and it's a really important gathering for us to attend,' Mr Marles said. More to come.
