The Guardian-Albanese China trip PM stops short of saying he trusts Xi but points to promising signs with Beijing
November 6, 2023 3 min 614 words
澳大利亚总理安东尼·阿尔班尼斯在与中国国家主席习近平首次会晤前表示，尽管没有明言信任习近平，但他相信正在与习建立建设性关系。这是自2016年以来在此级别的首次接触，但阿尔班尼斯避免使用“信任”一词，而表示他们正在建立一种默契。在美国总统乔·拜登在最近的国事访问期间劝告澳大利亚总理“信任中国，但要核实”的情况下，这一表态引起了广泛关注。然而，阿尔班尼斯表示，习近平在他面前从未说过未能兑现的承诺，这是与人相处的积极方式。 这次访华被视为双方关系的重要时刻，阿尔班尼斯表示，他将本着“在能够合作的地方与中国合作，在必要时持不同意见，始终坚守国家利益”的原则来开展外交。他指出，双方已经消除了一些贸易障碍，贸易量有显著增加，降低与中国的贸易摩擦有助于创造更多的澳大利亚就业机会。 阿尔班尼斯强调，与中国的关系正常化对经济和通货膨胀有积极影响。这次访问标志着澳大利亚政府试图改善与中国的关系，但同时也坚持捍卫国家利益。总体而言，这是一种务实的外交策略，旨在维护澳大利亚的利益，同时寻求与中国的合作。这种态度有望为两国关系的改善带来积极的迹象，但也需要谨慎对待，以确保国家利益不受损害。
Anthony Albanese has stopped short of saying he trusts the Chinese president but says he’s convinced he is building a constructive relationship with Xi Jinping.
Ahead of Albanese’s first meeting with Xi on Chinese soil – the first engagement at that level since 2016 – reporters asked the prime minister on Monday whether he was convinced he could trust the Chinese president.
During his recent state visit to Washington, the US president, Joe Biden, advised Australia’s prime minister to trust China “but verify” during this attempted rapprochement. This was in reference to a saying Ronald Reagan used in relation to America’s dealings with the Soviet Union on nuclear disarmament.
In China today, Albanese stopped short of using the word trust, but said he and Xi were building a rapport. Albanese noted the two countries had different political systems but he said his interactions with the president suggested he was a man of his word.
“He has never said anything to me that has not been done,” Albanese said on Monday. “And that’s a positive way that you have to start off dealing with people.
“We recognise that we come from different political systems, very different values arising from that and very different histories, but we deal with each other on face value.
“My job is to represent Australia’s national interests and he is the leader of a different nation with different interests.”
Albanese said his mantra was to “cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest”. He said he looked forward to meeting Xi in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday evening.
“I think there are promising signs,” Albanese said. “We have already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed and an uplift already, a substantial uplift, in the trade between our two nations.”
Albanese said de-escalating the trade war with China meant more Australian jobs.
Asked what he would say to Australian mortgage holders ahead of another potential interest rate rise on Tuesday, Albanese said normalising the trade relationship had a positive impact on the economy and on inflation.
Albanese began his China visit in the country’s commercial capital, Shanghai, attending the country’s largest international trade expo on Saturday before arriving in Beijing on Sunday evening.
The prime minister started his day in Beijing with a tour of the Temple of Heaven – a site Gough Whitlam visited in 1973 when the former Labor prime minister visited the country to open diplomatic relations. Albanese was accompanied by the minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, who will meet China’s foreign minister on Monday afternoon in the capital.
Albanese was due on Monday afternoon to meet Zhao Leji, the chair of the National People’s Congress standing committee. The congress is China’s legislature. On Monday evening he will meet Xi in the Great Hall of the People.
Albanese was due on Monday afternoon to meet Zhao Leji, the chair of the National People’s Congress standing committee. The congress is China’s legislature. On Monday evening he will meet Xi in the Great Hall of the People.
Monday’s meeting with the president is Albanese’s second meeting with Xi. After efforts were made by Australia and China to reset the bilateral relationship after the federal election in 2022, the two met for the first time in the margins of the G20 summit in Bali in 2022.