Premier Li Qiang’s visit was the culmination of hard work by the government to recalibrate the relationship with China. But it also exposed differences that cannot be papered over with diplomatic niceties.
Premier Li Qiang’s visit confirmed the mask is back on and the tactics have changed,but China’s strategy has not.
The visa deal comes as Canberra and Beijing agree to new forms of military communication to prevent Australian Defence personnel being put at risk.
The prime minister will insist that serious disagreements will not disappear simply by being treated as taboos.
Even at a diplomatic encounter as soft and fluffy as a trip to a panda enclosure,the harsh realities of the China-Australia relationship broke through.
As China ramps up hostilities in the Taiwan Strait,citizens in the island democracy are joining self-defence groups,fearing one day soon they will become civilian resistance to a communist invasion.
Former High Court chief justice Robert French has defended the role of Australians serving on Hong Kong’s top court.
If China were to attack Taiwan,this string of islands is at the front line. Kinmen is less than 10 kilometres from the Chinese mainland and remnants of past battles are everywhere.
Drew Pavlou had set up a table and placards near the entrance to the Queen Street Mall and Chinese consulate in the Brisbane CBD.
This is the atmosphere in which Taiwan on Monday inaugurated its new president,Lai Ching-te.
Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te has demanded Beijing stop threatening the island,while urging the world to see the protection of Taiwan’s democratic freedoms as essential to global peace.