By Wu Qiaoxi | 2025-07-29

Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his six-day visit -- his longest overseas trip since taking office in 2022.

But against the backdrop of warm handshakes and panda diplomacy, the Australian leader found himself walking a diplomatic tightrope, balancing the promise of renewed trade with enduring strategic tensions.

Albanese arrived in Shanghai on July 12 with a delegation of senior industry figures, marking his second visit to China as prime minister.

He made symbolic stops at the Great Wall and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where he visited Fu Ni, a panda that spent 15 years in Australia.

Diplomacy is not as "black-and-white" as pandas, said Albanese, who described the softer elements of the visit as vital to strengthening ties.

On July 15, Albanese held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in a carefully choreographed summit aimed at stabilizing relations.

Albanese emphasized China's importance to the Australian economy.

"Given that China is overwhelmingly, by far, the largest trading partner that Australia has, it is very much in the interest of Australian jobs and the Australian economy to have a positive and constructive relationship with China," he said during a news conference July 15.

Xi declared that Sino-Australian ties had "emerged from a low point and regained positive momentum," according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry.

Issues remain

That "low point" began in 2020, when Australia's call for an independent probe into the origins of COVID-19 infuriated Beijing, triggering punitive trade restrictions on key Australian exports.

It was n ot until 2023 that China began lifting the bans, culminating in December 2024 with the removal of restrictions on rock lobsters -- a symbol of the winding down of a trade war worth billions of dollars.

Albanese framed his trip as an effort to lock in economic recovery and announced new agreements in tourism, agriculture and renewable energy.

However, security issues remained thorny.

Albanese said during the news conference that he raised concerns about a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) live-fire exercise held without prior notice in the Tasman Sea earlier this year.

He also said that he did not discuss with Xi the port of Darwin. The Australian government has sought to reclaim the strategic northern port, currently leased to a Chinese firm, on national security grounds -- a move that has angered Beijing.

Albanese also said that Xi did not bring up the port, and that he felt no need to explain Canberra's position.

On Taiwan, Albanese was forced to clarify Australia's stance after Chinese state media claimed he had reaffirmed opposition to "Taiwan independence."

Asked if he used that phrasing, Albanese said on July 16 he had not seen the Chinese report and reiterated: "We support a One China policy. We support the status quo."

Australia does not support unilateral changes to the Taiwan Strait status quo and its position has not changed, he said.

A balancing act

Chinese state media warmly reported the visit. A Global Times editorial declared that relations had flown through the "thunderstorm" of three years ago to the calm "stratosphere," suggesting the most turbulent period was behind the two countries.

But in Australia, the response was far cooler.

Opposition Senate leader Michaelia Cash told Sky News the trip was marked by "inaction" and "uncertainty," criticizing Albanese for failing to deliver firm messages on security and sovereignty.

"Mr. Albanese needs to be clear in relation to the decision, and in a respectful relationship that decision needs to be respected," she said, referring to the Darwin Port issue.

Albanese's concerns appeared to have been "dismissed," said Cash.

Greg Sheridan, the foreign editor of The Australian, called the visit "unfathomably stupid," noting it coincided with this year's Talisman Sabre -- the largest-ever military drills by a 19-nation coalition led by Australia and the United States.

Speaking to Sky News, Sheridan faulted Albanese for skipping visits to key regional partners like Japan and South Korea, and for failing to produce concrete outcomes.

"Albanese's self-indulgent visit was propaganda gold for Beijing but did nothing for our interests," he wrote in The Australian.

The strategic balancing act was captured in an analysis by RANE's Worldview in late July, which noted that while the trip may bring short-term trade benefits, "mounting regional security risks will likely force Canberra to harden its stance, limiting the scope of long-term economic engagement with Beijing."

"The thing that Prime Minister Albanese overlooks is the enormous vulnerability and risk in deepening Australia's already extraordinary level of trade dependence," Michael Shoebridge, founder of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told The New York Times.

"It turns out that greed beats fear every time."