Australia's Albanese bows to China

Australia's Albanese paid a high price for his trip to China

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to China earlier this month "could be viewed as a success if 'stabilization' were defined narrowly as the resumption of high-level diplomatic dialogue and removal of most of the coercive trade sanctions that China imposed on Australian exports," writes Lavina Lee.
 
Ahead of the trip, Canberra dropped its World Trade Organization complaint against duties that China had imposed on Australian barley and suspended its case over tariffs on wine while also going quiet over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
 
"Canberra has been content to allow China to resume barley imports without any acknowledgment of fault or offer of restitution to aggrieved Australian growers," argues the senior lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University, warning of a retreat from principle. "Australia has shown that it is no longer willing to stand at the tip of the spear when it comes to defending the rules-based international order."