Silence, compromise and a blind eye: The price Albanese has paid to score a meeting with Xi Jinping is not worth the cost to Australian sovereignty
The WTO cases would have been the trade version of the Philippine’s successful case against China on the Law of the Sea in 2016. This concession affects not just Australia’s security but will limit the use of the harbour by our allies and partners – notably the US and Japan – who will not use the Chinese-operated port facilities for any sensitive military equipment.Before the May 2022 change of government, there was a growing pattern of Australian government reports of dangerous encounters by the PLA with Australian military ships and aircraft.
But the odd thing here is that the China has escalated the aggression and frequency of its close encounters with most other militaries operating in the region this year – including with the US military, the Philippines Coastguard and around Taiwan. Beijing is the cause, but our government gets tongue-tied not mentioning the “C” word explaining security.
There’s another benefit Mr Albanese will harvest from his time with Xi Jinping: a place in the Australian Labor Party firmament. Governor Newsom, seemingly unburdened by any knowledge of national security or even basic political dynamics involving China, visited as a wide-eyed small town mayor might go to New York.Anything like this from our Prime Minister would be a symbolic humiliation – as he is no doubt aware.