Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in China for six days of talks on trade, tourism, and geopolitical issues, amid United States pressure on defence commitments against China.
Albanese will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and China’s business leaders as he visits Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. It will be his longest visit to a single country as Prime Minister.
“China remains Australia's largest trading partner, accounting for almost one third of our total trade, and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” said Albanese in a statement. "Trade is now flowing freely, to the benefit of both countries and to people and businesses on both sides.”
“We will continue to patiently and deliberately work towards a stable relationship with China, with dialogue at its core.”
Albanese will meet with business leaders from China’s steel industry alongside the CEOs of Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue at a roundtable today, where he will encourage industry efforts to lower emissions in the steel sector.
The United States has also been pushing Australia and Japan to clearly indicate their role in a potential war between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has repeatedly pressed Australian officials on the issue, the Financial Times reported.
Australia will not make advance commitments over a currently-hypothetical conflict, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
“The sole power to commit Australia to war, or to allow our territory to be used for a conflict, is the elected government of the day,” Conroy told the ABC. “Sovereignty will always be prioritised and that will continue to be our position.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called on allied nations to increase their defence spending, saying Australia should immediately raise its investment from 2% of its GDP to 3.5%. Australia has already committed to surging its defence spending, Albanese said in a press conference, with the government’s target set at 2.33% by 2033.
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