Australia news live: Albanese in Chengdu for last leg of China visit; German backpacker leaves hospital after outback ordeal
Date: 2025-07-16T20:55:22.000Z
Title: Albanese to wrap up China visit in Chengdu
Content: Pandas and bionic ears are on Anthony Albanese's agenda as his six-day tour of China reaches its final leg, Australian Associated Press reports.
The prime minister touched down in Chengdu in China's south-west yesterday afternoon, where he announced the Sichuan capital would be given hosting rights to an Australian Open wildcard playoff tournament for a second year running.
In the sweltering 37C heat, the prime minister turned down the offer of a hit on centre court, instead hailing the role of sport in boosting people-to-people and cultural links between Australia and China.
'I know that my dear friend [former professional tennis player] Glenn Busby comes here and coaches and spends a lot of time here each year, and he tells me that China will dominate the sport in the years to come,' he said.
Chengdu, home to 21 million residents, is best known outside China as the home of giant pandas.
Albanese will visit a breeding research centre at the forefront of efforts to save the species from extinction.
As well as a beloved cultural icon, pandas are a central part of China's efforts to exert soft power in the world.
In a meeting with local party secretary Wang Xiaohui, Mr Albanese said pandas 'have been such an important feature' of building positive relations between Australia and China.
He noted the two new pandas who were loaned to Adelaide zoo in 2024, in the most recent example of 'panda diplomacy'.
'I thank this province for our two newest guests who have been so well received,' he said.
But Chengdu has another, arguably more impactful, connection to Australia.
Cochlear, the Australian hearing device company, bases a manufacturing and research plant in the city, which the prime minister will visit today.
More than 50,000 Chinese patients have had hearing loss restored by a Cochlear device, making it one of the company's largest markets.
Update:
Date: 2025-07-16T20:47:29.000Z
Title: German backpacker Carolina Wilga leaves hospital after outback ordeal
Content: A German backpacker who was lost in the Australian outback for 11 nights has been discharged from hospital.
Carolina Wilga hit her head in a car crash and left her car in a 'state of confusion' before going missing in the Western Australian outback.
A desperate search for the 26-year-old began when her family and friends raised the alarm after not hearing from her.
She was discharged from Perth's Fiona Stanley hospital on Wednesday.
More on Wilga's ordeal in the outback here:
Update:
Date: 2025-07-16T20:47:29.000Z
Title: Welcome
Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it'll be Nick Visser to be your news guide.
Anthony Albanese will wrap up his visit to China in Chengdu today. The south-west city of 21 million people is best known for its pandas and spicy Sichuan food, but it is also where Cochlear, the Australian hearing device company, has a manufacturing and research facility, which the prime minister will visit today. More coming up.
The Reserve Bank and economists will be watching today's jobs figures for another clue as to where the economy is headed. It comes after the shock decision by the bank to keep rates steady this month. More on that shortly.
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The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Australian prime minister indulges in panda diplomacy a China state visit nears end
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited a panda breeding facility in the final stages of an extended state visit that has cast China as a fellow champion of a global fair trade system under threat from the United States. The panda diplomacy stop Thursday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu highlighted Australia's special status as the only Southern Hemisphere country to host a pair of the rare Chinese native animals. Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon visited a pen where they saw Fu Ni, a giant panda who had been on loan to Australia's Adelaide Zoo until last year. 'A great ambassador for China and a great friend of Australia,' Albanese said of Fu Ni as she chomped on bamboo. China loans Australia pandas Premier Li Qiang used a visit to the Adelaide Zoo last year to announce Fu Ni and her partner Wang Wang would be replaced by another China-born pair that will hopefully breed . The new couple, Xing Qiu and Yi Yan, made their public debut in January at the zoo in the South Australia state capital where they are a major tourist attraction. Albanese's China, which began Saturday and ends on Friday, is extraordinarily long compared with Australian state visits over the past decade and marks a normalization of bilateral relations that plumbed to new depths under the previous Australian government. Albanese said he had visited Chengdu and the Great Wall of China, as well at the usual diplomatic destinations of Beijing and Shanghai, as a show of respect to the Chinese people. '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. But you know what it does? It gives you a reward,' Albanese told reporters. 'One of the things that I find about giving countries respect is that you get it back,' he added. In 2020, Beijing banned minister-to-minister contacts and imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers on commodities including wine, beef, coal, barley and lobsters that cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year. This was a response to Australia's previous government demanding an independent inquiry into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic was the final straw, relations had been deteriorating for years over issues including laws banning covert foreign interference in Australian politics and Australia banning Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on security grounds from involvement in the national 5G network rollout. The trade barriers have all been lifted since Albanese's center-left Labor Party was first elected in 2022. But now, the United States threatens to become a major disruptor to global trade through President Donald Trump's tariff regime. Chinese president urges Australia to hold course Chinese President Xi Jinping told Albanese at the outset of their bilateral meeting in Beijing Tuesday that the important thing their two countries had learned in repairing relations was that equal treatment, seeking common ground and pursuing cooperation served the interests of both. 'No matter how the international landscape may evolve, we should uphold this overall direction unswervingly,' Xi said through an interpreter. The comment was widely interpreted as a reference to U.S. tariffs. Albanese replied that his government welcomed progressing cooperation under their decade-old bilateral free trade agreement. 'Australia will remain a strong supporter of free and fair trade,' Albanese said. The United States has allocated Australia the minimum 10% tariff on U.S. imports. Australia argues that any tariff cannot be justified and that the U.S. has enjoyed a trade surplus with Australia for decades. The greater economic damage for Australia would likely be from a Chinese economic downturn caused by its U.S. tariff treatment. Around a third of Australian exports go to China. Australia shifts away from the US James Laurenceson, director of the University of Technology Sydney's Australia-China Relations Institute, described China's presentation of itself as Australia's ally in defending free trade as 'self-serving." 'It's not so much Australia aligning with China. It's really just about Australia and China agreeing they've got a shared interest in the existing system, and it's the U.S. that's walking away from that,' Laurenceson said. 'I don't think the big shift this week is Australia getting closer to China. I think the distance with the United States is getting wider and wider,' he added. Albanese's political enemies have criticised him for now having four face-to-face meetings with Xi – including two in Beijing – while the prime minister has yet to meet Trump in person. Albanese and Trump were to hold a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada last month, but the U.S. president left early. Albanese said this week he expected to meet Trump this year. 'I look forward to a constructive engagement with President Trump. We have had three constructive phone conversations,' Albanese said. ______
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
12-year-old Yu Zidi of China takes stunning times to the world swimming championships
Yu Zidi of China is only 12 years old and will race at the world swimming championships later this month in Singapore. That's amazing. But her age is only part of the picture. Not only is she very young, but her times in three events this year are among the best in the world. And here's the kicker. Those times would have been very close to medals in last year's Paris Olympics. Again, she's 12. That's a sixth- or seventh-grade student depending on the school system. Not yet a teenager. 'I think it's a great story. I don't know where it will lead,' Greg Meehan, the national team director for the American squad in Singapore, told The Associated Press. The world is watching As promising young swimmers do, Yu is clocking personal bests almost each time she competes. Her PBs are more than just confidence boosters, they put her in sight of records, medals and stardom. Yu has qualified in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys, and the 200 butterfly. She could win a medal in all three. Her time of 2 minutes, 10.63 seconds in the 200 IM at the Chinese championships in May was the fastest ever by a 12-year-old swimmer — male or female — according to World Aquatics, the global governing body of the sport. That was only the start. Her time of 2:06.83 in the 200 butterfly in the same meet would have placed her fourth in last year's Paris Olympics. It was the fifth-fastest time in the world this year and would have been good enough for gold in the 2024 worlds. Again, Yu is 12 years old. To cap off the national championships she swam 4:35.53 in the 400 IM, the fifth-fastest time of the year in that event. That also would have been good for fourth place last year at the Olympics, just 0.6 behind bronze medalist Emma Weyant of the United States. Faster than McIntosh at 12 The 400 IM is dominated by 18-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh, who holds the world record of 4:23.65 and the 200 IM mark of 2:05.70. She's a generational talent, the winner of three gold medals in Paris. By comparison, Yu at 12 is swimming roughly 15 seconds faster in the 400 IM than McIntosh did at 12, and about 12 seconds faster in the 200 IM. In a 50-meter pool, 12 to 15 seconds would be a half-lap of the pool, depending on the event. Yu is not the first young swimmer to excel, but it's how she's doing it — the stunning times and the promise of more to come. Of course there are no guarantees of success, and young swimmers can burn out. Started out as fun Yu said she began swimming at 6 in a water amusement park. 'The summer was too hot, and my dad took me to the water park," she told China's official Xinhua News Agency. 'I enjoyed the coolness of the water and spent a lot of time in different small pools for kids. One day, a coach approached me and asked if I wanted to swim faster." The rest is history, as they say, as she explained her event preference. 'Since I am not competitive in the sprint events, I have to choose the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter butterfly as my favorites,' Yu told Xinhua. "My age is currently an advantage and I hope to grow and develop more strength in the future.' Yu trains at the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club in Hengshui City, south of Beijing in Hebei Province. Alzain Tareq of Bahrain swam in the 2015 worlds at only 10. She finished last in her event. World Aquatics now has stricter age rules than a decade ago. Swimmers must be at least 14 unless their times meet qualification standards. In effect, this means there is no age limit. Looking to LA Olympics If Yu were to win Olympic gold in three years in Los Angeles, she would be 15. But that wouldn't make her the youngest swimmer to take gold. Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan was 14 years and 6 days old when she won gold in the 200 breaststroke at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Swimmers tend to peak early, particularly females. The specialty publication and website SwimSwam lists seven swimmers — all women — who won Olympic gold before they turned 15. Three, including Iwasaki, did it in individual events, and four got gold in relays. American superstar Katie Ledecky was 15 years and 139 days when she won the 800 freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics — the first of her nine gold medals over four Olympics. She's still swimming and is the overwhelming favorite to win the 1,500 meters in Singapore. Ledecky has the top 23 times in history in the event, and also No. 25. For another jolting perspective, consider this. Ledecky's first gold came several months before Yu was born — Oct. 6, 2012. 'I have no idea what it's like to compete abroad," Yu told Xinhua. 'I really want to experience the world-class competition.' The world is watching. ___
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Albanese says Coalition failed to have call with Beijing for years as opposition criticises ‘indulgent' China trip
Anthony Albanese has sniped back at the opposition's criticism of his 'indulgent' six-day visit to China, pointing out the former Coalition government failed to hold a single phone call with the major trading partner for years. The prime minister has spent this week touring the country with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu amid a period of geopolitical instability and escalating trade hostilities between US and its trading partners. Albanese met with Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang to discuss a number of issues, including trade tensions with the US, the issue of independence for Taiwan and two-way tourism links. But the prime minister scheduled time for visits to popular tourist attractions, including the Great Wall of China and a panda research facility, echoing historical trips by former leaders, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser. The opposition finance minister, James Paterson, criticised Albanese for the picture-friendly stops, describing them as 'indulgent' and questioning whether the trip had achieved 'tangible outcomes'. 'I have to say that some of this is starting to look a little bit indulgent,' Paterson told Sky News. 'The appropriate time to do a nostalgic history tour of Labor Party mythology, is after you retire, in your own time, at your own expense, not on the taxpayer dime.' While the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said she wished him well, she said she was 'disappointed' Albanese didn't receive assurances about the Chinese military's live-fire exercises in international waters between Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. 'What needs to be a strong and respectful relationship, and respect cuts both ways,' Ley said. 'Friendship is important, but it can't come at the cost of our national interest. And Australians expect their prime minister to stand up for that national interest in those conversations that he has with world leaders.' Speaking from Chengdu, Albanese said the opposition should sort 'themselves out' before attacking the Labor government. 'Those pictures go to 27 million people potentially in Australia, they go to over a billion people in China,' he said. 'And those billion people represent people who increasingly are rising up the income ladder and are potential tourists and therefore job creators in Australia. 'If James Paterson doesn't understand that, then he doesn't understand much. And quite frankly, I think the latter applies.' Relations between Australia and China deteriorated in May 2020 under the former Coalition government after the former prime minister Scott Morrison backed an international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 virus. Australia was hit with trade sanctions on exports to China and frozen out of minister-to-minister dialogues during the two-year period. While trade and diplomatic relations have improved since Albanese was elected, tensions remain on a series of issues, including the imprisonment of Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun, who was given a suspended death sentence in 2024. Following his meeting with Xi on Tuesday, Albanese promised 'patient, calibrated advocacy' on sensitive issues with China. 'President Xi Jinping and I agreed dialogue must be at the centre of our relationship,' Albanese said. 'If you don't have communication, you can have misadventure and misinterpretation.'
