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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent

Thaw or cold war: will Labor succeed in unfreezing Australia-China relations?

Australian defence minister Richard Marles and Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe met in Singapore
The new Australian defence minister Richard Marles and Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe meet in Singapore. Photograph: Australian Department of Defence/AFP/Getty Images

After the end of a two-year diplomatic freeze between China and Australia, the new Albanese government is embarking on a grand experiment: is a different tone enough to get the relationship on a better footing?

Gone are Peter Dutton’s blunt declarations that Beijing wants to turn countries like Australia into tributary states, as is the prediction Australia would almost certainly join any US-led military action to defend Taiwan against invasion.

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