Anthony Albanese has rejected opposition criticism that his six-day trip to China was indulgent, insisting his high-profile visits to the Great Wall and a giant panda breeding and research centre were about showing “respect” to the host country.
The prime minister followed in the footsteps of Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser by making a trip to the Great Wall, and Labor’s Bob Hawke by touring the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on his final days in China.
As Mr Albanese paid a visit to Fu Ni, one of two beloved giant pandas based in Adelaide Zoo for more than a decade before China sent two new pandas over in January this year, the Coalition ramped up its criticism of the trip.
Fu Ni was at Adelaide Zoo for 15 years before retiring and returning to China late last year. (AAP: Lukas Koch)
“I do wonder whether a Gough Whitlam history tour on the Great Wall of China, whether a visit to Chengdu to pose with some pandas, and whether a hit of tennis is strictly necessary as part of a six-day visit to China when there is so much else at stake in our other international relationships around the world,” Coalition frontbencher James Paterson told Sky News.
Speaking to reporters following a medical tech industry lunch in Chengdu, Mr Albanese dismissed the criticism. He said the photo opportunities were important to promote Australia and China to “potential tourists” and “job creators”.
“The Great Wall of China symbolises the extraordinary history and culture here in China, and showing a bit of respect to people never cost anything,” the prime minister said.
“But you know what it does? It gives you a reward.”
Mr Albanese has hailed his trip to China, which included meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Chairman Zhao Leji, as “very successful”.
‘Where is our trade deal?’
But Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash questioned whether the prime minister had secured enough concrete outcomes for Australia.
She called for Mr Albanese to pour more effort into Australia’s alliance with the United States and focus on securing a meeting with US President Donald Trump and striking a deal to stop US tariffs from hitting the Australian economy.
“Where is our trade deal with the United States?” she said on Sky News.
“Mr Albanese, you’ve had your six-day extended visit with our greatest trading partner. You now need to prioritise the relationship, the bedrock of our security, with the leader of the free world, the United States of America.
“Long live the Australia-United States alliance. That is what provides us with our security.”
Albanese’s China visit is a counterpoint to Trump’s chaos
Mr Albanese told journalists earlier this week he raised Australia’s concerns about China’s decision to hold live-firing naval drills in the Tasman Sea earlier this year without giving any meaningful notice, although he indicated Mr Xi brushed those concerns aside.
Both he and Defence Minister Richard Marles have said China had the right to navigate through those waters under international law.
Senator Cash said Mr Albanese needed to make Australia’s position “crystal clear” to China.
“Despite all that’s happened in the China trip, the great publicity that Mr Albanese has received, he has not been able to get assurances from the president, Xi Jinping, of China, in relation to those issues,” she said.
“It is not for Mr Marles and Mr Albanese to make excuses for the Chinese Communist Party. They are there to ensure Australia’s views are heard and respected.”
