Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden have developed a “very easy rapport”.Credit:James Brickwood
Asked the status of Beijing’s campaign of intimidation against Australia,Campbell said:“By any measure it has failed.”
“The best measures of this are a more diversified Australian economy,the profound commitment to join AUKUS,the leading role in the Quad,and the refusal to back down in the face of sustained efforts to diplomatically intimidate and commercially punish.
“Australia has determinedly stood its ground. What I’m impressed by is the Australians aren’t laying out publicly what their conditions are,but are clearly indicating to the People’s Republic of China in private what’s going to need to happen to resume more normal relations.
“That’s purposeful,strong diplomacy. A very steady hand.”
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In Albanese’s half-hour meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping,the prime minister raised a range of Australian complaints and concerns about China’s policies.
These included China’s trade “blockages” on some Australian exports,the repression of the Uighur minority in China’s Xinjiang province,and the detention of two Australian citizens,journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun. He also stressed the importance of the South China Sea as an international shipping and aviation thoroughfare.
Campbell pointed to consistent US support of Australia under Biden:“If you look at what the US has done in the last two years,virtually everything significant has included Australia.
“That’s AUKUS,the NATO Asia gathering,the Quad,and the Partnership of the Blue Pacific,which has gotten less attention but which is part of a major American effort to step up our game in the Pacific.
“Australia has been the crucial partner in all we are doing.”
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