For the first time in a long time, a year can begin with a realistic assessment that Australia-China relations are on an upward trajectory again.
After winning last May’s federal election, the new Albanese government set “stabilisation” as the objective for Canberra’s relations with Beijing.
Rather than reaching for something loftier, “stabilisation” made sense given the new Labor government was inheriting a relationship in its worst state since 1972, the year the Whitlam government moved to recognise Beijing (instead of Taipei) as China’s sole legal government.
