Anthony Albanese visits the Echo Wall at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.Credit:AAP
In his first year in office,Albanese made 11 separate overseas trips,visiting 16 nations. He tied with Rudd and Tony Abbott’s reported trips but fell short of Scott Morrison’s 12 international trips in his first year.
By year’s end,Albanese will have made 17 trips overseas since becoming prime minister,stopping over in 19 nations. Some,like Britain,India and Fiji,he visited twice,while Japan,Indonesia and the United States merited three visits.
Albanese’s trip to China has been hugely important. It is the first by an Australian leader since China imposed trade sanctions in 2020 on $20 billion worth of Australian imports,although except for lobster and beef,most have now been lifted;the last prime minister to visit was Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.
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It is heavy with symbolism too,marking the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s historic visit to China which paved the way for a rapprochement with the West and helped make Labor a contender by showing the US had neglected to inform then-prime minister Billy McMahon that it was negotiating with Beijing,despite our nations fighting the “red tide of communism” in Vietnam together.
While Morrison worried China would use Albanese’s trip for propaganda and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton thought he should visit Israel,Liberal backbencher Keith Wolahan told the ABC programQ&A on Monday he would not criticise the prime minister and happily acknowledged the change in the relationship with China.
“We are a trading nation and still,despite the tensions,we have enormous trade with China and we welcome the prime minister’s trip to China,” he said. “But its important he has tough conversations because up until now we could separate our view on economics and trade and our view on national security – more liberal on one,more realistic on the other – but China didn’t see it that way and we saw trade weaponised against us,so we welcome the thawing.”