Australia and China have had rocky relations in recent history, but a meeting between Australian Prime Minister Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang is likely to reverse that trend. Coming off the coattails of former Prime Minister Morrison, PM Albanese has sought to re-establish strong trade relations with China rather than harbor open hostility. The Australian economy paid a heavy price during the coronavirus pandemic after PM Morrison’s administration decided to pursue an investigation into the origin of the virus, suggesting that China bore responsibility for the outbreak. In response to that investigation, Australian imports into China were hit with high tariffs that are now being dissolved as the relationship between the two countries improves. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of the recent meeting with Chinese Premier Li that “[w]e won’t always agree, and the points in which we disagree won’t simply disappear if we leave them in silence.” In their areas of agreement, the two countries are happy to resume trade with one another and lower their military hostilities. China has agreed to lower tariffs on Australian beef, timber, coal, wine and barley exports as it seeks to secure additional import of critical minerals to supply the Chinese production of electric vehicles, smartphones and other electronic devices. As a token of appreciation, Li announced that China would provide the Australian Adelaide Zoo with two new pandas to replace two set to retire to China later this year. China’s export of pandas to friendly nations has been referred to as “panda diplomacy” and continues to signify China’s strong cultural clout and unique natural resources. 

Aside from the return of high volume Australian-Chinese trade, Premier Li’s diplomatic mission was disturbed by one small detail: a Chinese-Australian journalist formerly imprisoned in China was present among the press. Journalist Cheng Lei was released last October after being held in custody in Beijing for three years on national security charges. Now, appearing at this Chinese-Australian honeymoon, Lei presented a challenge for Chinese officials who did not want her to appear on national television. So, in truly improvised fashion, Chinese officials made a concerted effort to stand between Lei and camera crews. PM Albanese told ABC that “it was a pretty clumsy attempt.” Further complicating the Aussie-Sino wedding reception is the fact that China currently maintains another Chinese-Australian journalist behind bars. Blogger and novelist Yang Hengjun was given a suspended death sentence in February for alleged acts of espionage. Responding to the rift between himself and FM Li indirectly, PM Albanese told reporters that Australians “oppose capital punishment and I reiterated our position there.”

Chinese immigrants have been a significant part of Australian culture since at least the 1850’s. After the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851, an influx of Chinese immigrants came to populate Australian coal mines, eventually outnumbering European miners there three to one. The swell of Chinese immigrants eventually led to a rise in isolationist ideology among Australians who overwhelmingly supported the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act which required immigrants to pass a language test. To this day, immigrants born in China make up over 2% of Australia’s population. The long history of Chinese-Australian culture is best illustrated by Melbourne’s brilliant Chinatown, the oldest Chinese settlement in the West. 

Increased trade between Australia and China will ultimately improve the economies of both in the future. Ideally, Australia’s rapprochement with China would lead to a similar understanding between the United States and China. Unfortunately, it does not seem likely that under either a future Trump or Biden administration that there will be much political will to cool tensions with China. At minimum, it seems clear that Australian-Chinese relations will persevere despite complications. Paralleling China’s detainment of Yang Hengjun, Australians are adamantly opposed to the U.S.’s extradition order for Australian-born journalist Julian Assange. It seems logical, then, that so long as China does not move to execute Hengjun, political prisoners will not be the reason for a future collapse in relations. In the end, Australia’s alignment with China will likely be dictated by the actions of the United States and its other Five Eyes partners. Barring a substantial repudiation of Western ties, Australia remains tied to the mast of Western hegemony in an increasingly multipolar world.