logo
Albanese's China trip slammed as ‘strategic confusion' amid military tensions

Albanese's China trip slammed as ‘strategic confusion' amid military tensions

Sky News AU2 days ago
Sky News host James Macpherson highlights the 'ironies' associated with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to China, where he aimed to promote Chinese tourism to Australia.
'So, we're saying to the Chinese, come say g'day, at the very same time they are via their military conducting surveillance off our northern shores,' Mr Macpherson said.
'He's looking to strengthen relationships with China, while the US wonders aloud whether or not we would join with them in a war against China.
'You start to wonder whether Albanese is deliberately using strategic confusion.
'My concern is that there's nothing strategic about it; the government is just confused as to where their allegiances ultimately lie.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip
Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip

The Age

time30 minutes ago

  • The Age

Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip

A group of Australian television journalists were briefly blocked from getting on their bus after filming footage outside a popular Beijing tourist attraction by local security officials and told to hand over their footage for viewing by police. On Tuesday morning, reporters from ABC, SBS, Sky News and Nine and Seven travelled from the Australian delegation's hotel, where Anthony Albanese is staying, to a local attraction to film segments previewing the prime minister's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The group had written permission to travel to the site and arrived with officials from the Australian embassy. But local security guards stopped the journalists and asked if they were allowed to film. According to SBS News and footage recorded at the site by the ABC, about eight Chinese security officials surrounded the group and said they would need to hand over footage until police arrived. The press group was encircled as they attempted to get onto their bus, but Australian departmental officials eventually settled the matter, and the reporters departed on the bus.

Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip
Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip

Sydney Morning Herald

time30 minutes ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

Australian journalists confronted by security on Albanese's China trip

A group of Australian television journalists were briefly blocked from getting on their bus after filming footage outside a popular Beijing tourist attraction by local security officials and told to hand over their footage for viewing by police. On Tuesday morning, reporters from ABC, SBS, Sky News and Nine and Seven travelled from the Australian delegation's hotel, where Anthony Albanese is staying, to a local attraction to film segments previewing the prime minister's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The group had written permission to travel to the site and arrived with officials from the Australian embassy. But local security guards stopped the journalists and asked if they were allowed to film. According to SBS News and footage recorded at the site by the ABC, about eight Chinese security officials surrounded the group and said they would need to hand over footage until police arrived. The press group was encircled as they attempted to get onto their bus, but Australian departmental officials eventually settled the matter, and the reporters departed on the bus.

Libs call out US' Taiwan demand
Libs call out US' Taiwan demand

Perth Now

time31 minutes ago

  • Perth Now

Libs call out US' Taiwan demand

Coalition frontbencher James Paterson has said it 'wouldn't be appropriate' for the US to force Australia to commit to a course of action in any potential conflict involving China and Taiwan. It follows reports Australian officials had been questioned by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby. First reported in the Financial Times on Saturday, the news up-ended the start of Anthony Albanese's six-day trip in China, ahead of his Tuesday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It has also sparked questions as to whether Australia would be asked to deploy any Virgina-class submarines acquired under the AUKUS deal in the event of a conflict. Mr Colby is also leading the review into the defence partnership. James Paterson said deterring and preventing conflict was in Australia's best interests. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Senator Paterson said that as the US had not declared whether it would come to Taiwan's aid if it faced an invasion from China, Australia should not have to either. 'It's had that policy consistently since 1979 - when the Taiwan Relations Act passed Congress - so it wouldn't be appropriate for the US government to ask Australia to do more than the United States is willing to do in relation to that,' he told ABC RN on Tuesday. 'And I'm not sure ... what they're asking for is for us to pre-emptively and publicly declare what we would do in the event of a hypothetical Taiwan contingency.' Senator Patterson said while Australia's interests were clearly about deterring and preventing conflict, potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan posed 'the greatest risk'. 'That would be disastrous for Taiwan, for China, for the whole region and the world, and we should be working as hard as we can with our allies to prevent that,' he said. Coalition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said it was not possible or realistic to 'codify every possible scenario around a conflict'. 'The Americans won't do that, and nor will we,' he said. Angus Taylor also dismissed the reported requests. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'What we can do is jointly commit to peace through strength and deterrence in the Taiwan Strait (and) in our region more generally - that's what we all want to see.' Mr Taylor said the Prime Minister needed to be clearer about Australia's strategic position as China pursues 'a massive military build-up'. 'We have to be clear about where our strategic position is, jointly working with allies like the United States and Japan and India and others across our region to make sure we have that peace through strength,' he told Sky. 'Deterrence is an absolute priority right now, and yet it seems that the priority of this Prime Minister is to is to meet with the President of China, rather than the President of the United States'. He also criticised Labor for not heeding calls from the US to boost defence spending from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and pointed to the Coalition's election commitment to increase investment to 3 per cent by 2030. Labor will instead boost spending to 2.33 per cent by 2033. Mr Taylor said Mr Albanese was 'not prepared' to admit the defence strategic review and critical facilities such as Western Australia's proposed submarine facility in Henderson were not properly funded. 'That's simply not good enough at a time like this,' he said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store