Despite flare-ups over military encounters and Australia’s concerted efforts to counter China’s influence among Pacific nations, the Albanian government has sought to stabilize diplomatic relations and restore trade ties with Beijing. That has meant adopting a lower-volume approach to criticism of Beijing than in the Morrison government era.
Speaking before the pair’s closed-door meeting, Li said the China-Australia relationship had deepened following Albanese’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in July in Beijing.
“Indeed, we are seeing upward momentum in our relationship, we welcome it and are happy to see it,” Li said.
Albanese, in turn, said he welcomed the pace of the relationship, adding that “whenever there are differences, we handle them wisely.”
Albanese met with Takaichi on Sunday, where they both reaffirmed their commitment to the Quad group, comprising Australia, Japan, India and the United States, and their strategic cooperation in the region.
“I also hope that our two countries can lead efforts so that we can advance a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Takaichi told Albanese on the sidelines of the summit.
“Both Japan and Australia have the will and ability to realize these aspirations.”
Trump will meet Takaichi in Japan on Tuesday before heading to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, where he is expected to meet Xi for the first time during the US president’s second term on Thursday. Albanese will also head to South Korea later this week to attend APEC.
Charging
China’s latest sweeping export controls on rare earths and magnets are expected to be a key topic of discussion at the Trump-Xi meeting, along with tariffs, cooperation on fentanyl trafficking, other export controls and Taiwan.
Earlier this month, a fragile trade truce between the United States and China broke out again after the United States moved to cut off technology exports to Chinese-owned subsidiaries of blacklisted companies. Beijing responded with its broad crackdown on rare earths, prompting Trump to threaten to impose an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
The two countries’ top trade negotiators appeared to negotiate a path to de-escalation on Sunday after two days of talks on the sidelines of ASEAN, paving the way for Trump and Xi to sign a deal when they meet in South Korea on Thursday.
In a series of interviews with U.S. television networks after the talks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believed China would delay its restrictions on rare earths “for a year while they re-examine them,” while the United States would abandon its latest tariff threat.
“I would expect the threat of 100 percent [tariff] “It has disappeared, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese starting a global export control regime,” Bessent said.
Get a note directly from our foreigner correspondents about what’s making headlines around the world. Subscribe to our weekly What in the World newsletter.
