China has lodged diplomatic protests with Australia for congratulating the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, with the Chinese ambassador warning there is “no room at all” for compromise on the “sensitive” issue. China’s top envoy in Australia, Xiao Qian, also dashed hopes that the Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun might be released from custody in a similar manner to the Australian journalist Cheng Lei last year. The ambassador further denied that a Chinese warship had subjected Australian naval divers to dangerous sonar pulses in an incident in Japan’s exclusive economic…
Tag: Australian foreign policy
News live: Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea, Farrell says
From 5h ago Sarah Basford Canales Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea Earlier this morning, trade minister Don Farrell left open the possibility Australia could deploy navy vessels to the Red Sea amid ongoing attacks against commercial shipping from Iran-backed militia. This week the US asked Australia to send a warship to the region as part of its duties as a member of the international naval security taskforce, the combined maritime forces. It comes as the Yemen-based and Iran-backed Houthis warned…
Australia and Philippines begin joint patrols in South China Sea as regional tensions rise
Australia and the Philippines have begun joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea as Pacific nations warily eye an increasingly assertive China. The three-day exercises follow discussions earlier this year on joint patrols to underscore what the countries say is their commitment to closer cooperation and a rules-based order in the region. It also comes days after Manila took similar steps with the US, concluding patrols that started in waters near Taiwan. Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, said the inaugural patrols represent the practical implementation of the…
Tibet’s government-in-exile urges Australia not to ‘compromise’ on China’s human rights record
Australia must not compromise on human rights as it improves its relationship with China because “the truth must be told”, a minister from the Tibetan government in exile has said during a visit to Canberra. Norzin Dolma, a minister of the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamshala in India, met Australian MPs from across the political spectrum on Thursday to warn against a “quiet diplomacy” approach to “gross human rights abuses” and “brutal suppression” in Tibet. She also urged the Australian government to use its new Magnitsky-style sanctions laws to…
Australia news live: migrant visa bill passes parliament with Coalition clauses; Optus chief to front Senate hearing
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When Albanese met Xi – inside the diplomatic reset with China – podcast
Last week Anthony Albanese embarked on the first trip to China by an Australian prime minister since 2016, meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping. This moment signals a diplomatic reset between Australia and China after years of turmoil. Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to Guardian Australia’s political editor Katharine Murphy about her first-hand view of the historic trip and how it serves both Australian and Chinese interests How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
Albanese has threaded a needle between the US and China. Now he needs to do the same on Israel-Hamas at home | Katharine Murphy
It’s been a high octane few weeks for the Albanese government when it comes to managing complexity on the global stage. We’ll get to keeping the US engaged in the region, rapprochement in China, and managing climate change and security in the Pacific, shortly. But we need to start our story in Sydney, just over a month ago, at an event that felt like a high-water mark in the relationship between Australia’s federal government and the Islamic community. On 6 October, Anthony Albanese visited the Lakemba Mosque. The prime minister,…
Anthony Albanese’s China trip is historic – but for Canberra not for Beijing
On Tuesday, Anthony Albanese made the front page of China’s official English-language state newspaper. So did the Cuban prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Serbian prime minister, Ana Brnabic, and the South African deputy president, Paul Mashatile. It was a sign of the importance of Albanese’s visit, but also a reminder that it’s not of the same significance in Beijing that it is in Canberra. The historic visit by Albanese to China this week was the first by an Australian prime minister in seven years. But analysts say the trip,…
China and Australia agree to new multi-entry visa as Albanese touts improved relationship after thaw
Anthony Albanese is en route to the Pacific Islands Forum after executing a comprehensive diplomatic reset with China which includes an agreement to create a new multi-entry visa to facilitate exchanges and closer links between people. The new visa for visitors and business people was agreed at the conclusion of the Australian prime minister’s meetings with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Monday and Tuesday. In a joint statement released as Albanese left the country, the governments of…
‘Handsome boy’ Albanese may have managed to turn China’s iron fist into a velvet glove
Just before the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates, and Without A Fight stormed home in the Melbourne Cup, China’s premier, Li Qiang, adopted a flirtatious tone in Beijing with his guest Anthony Albanese. Tongue firmly in cheek, Li said to the Australian prime minister: “On our way into the hall, I shared with you that I see on social media of China … there are many sharing of short videos about your trip to China … including a video of you running along the river with a yellow…