The Squiz

PM Anthony Albanese is in Beijing today to start talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Yesterday, Albanese said it’s “in all our interests” to have a working relationship that enables regular dialogue and cooperation. And he told attendees at Shanghai’s International Import Expo that both Oz and China have benefited from a region that has “become more open and interconnected.” As for his big day ahead, Albanese said he scored the invite to see Xi after taking a “patient, calibrated and deliberate” approach to getting things back. 

What’s on the table?

A lot has been made of Albanese being the first Aussie leader to visit China in 7 years – Malcolm Turnbull was the last to go in 2016 – so that makes it significant. One Chinese state media outlet has already referred to the trip as “ice-breaking”. The big goal is to see the China-imposed impediments on Aussie trade “removed and dealt with”. But it’s not a one-way street – China is lobbying to be let into the regional CPTPP free-trade agreement that includes Australia, Japan, Singapore, and others. Albanese has also said that he’ll raise the case of Dr Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Aussie writer who has been detained for 4 years. When asked about human rights abuses in China, Albanese’s line has been that while we “must cooperate with China where we can, we will disagree where we must.”

Got you. Will the PM get any panda time?

Funny you ask… In Shanghai, the PM was also asked about 2 pandas – Wang Wang and Fu Ni – currently on loan from China to the Adelaide Zoo. That arrangement runs out in 2024… The pair first arrived in Australia in 2009 as part of China’s soft-power ‘panda diplomacy’ program that has seen 63 pandas sent to 19 countries, and their time here has already been extended by 5 years. When asked about the possibility of getting another extension, Albanese said his understanding is that “pandas do get homesick.” He added that he was “pro-panda” and would like to see the bears “maintain a presence in Australia.” But China has form with nations where relations are bumpy – the National Zoo run by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC will say goodbye to its bears this month after a request to extend the loan was denied.