![\"China](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/c998225a2661abdee48c04be3ec30b20.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe trip began with US defence official Elbridge Colby saying that a condition of the AUKUS pact should be that Australia agrees to join the US in any China Taiwan conflict.<\/p>\n
The Financial Times reported Mr Colby pressed both Australia and Japan to say what role they would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.<\/p>\n
The Albanese government has disregarded these kinds of statements, figuring Mr Colby has about as much status as Australia\u2019s Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil.<\/p>\n
Sources indicate that while Australia needs the United States for defence security, the US also needs Australia.<\/p>\n
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told Sky News Sunday Agenda that the government would not be drawn into speculative scenarios or abandon its current defence posture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, again, I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals, and we do not support a unilateral change in the current relationship,\u201d Ms Rowland said.<\/p>\n
She also pointed to Australia\u2019s growing defence commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I will note in going to a related issue about defence spending (is) that we recognise the US has called for this of a number of its allies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would point out that we are spending some $10 billion over the forwards and nearly $60 billion over the next decade on defence spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will act always in the national interests, and we will ensure that our capabilities are up to scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, shadow defence minister Angus Taylor told Sky News that the government should align with the US on its Taiwan position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a commitment, as does the United States to the status quo in and around Taiwan,\u201d Mr Taylor said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means peace in the Taiwan Strait. That means a secure Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n
While critics accused the prime minister of engaging in soft diplomacy and indulging in nostalgia during his China visit, Mr Albanese has insisted the trip was a success.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a statement concluding his diplomatic visit, Mr Albanese said the trip “marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship”.<\/p>\n
“A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia\u2019s national interest,” he said on Friday.<\/p>\n
“We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest.”<\/p>\n
The prime minister said he had made Australia\u2019s position on regional security \u201cvery clear\u201d to the Chinese leadership.<\/p>\n
He raised concerns over Chinese military activity near Australia, particularly naval operations in international waters that coincided with Operation Talisman Sabre.<\/p>\n
However, he avoided clashing with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Darwin Port<\/a>, China\u2019s\u00a0support for Russia<\/a> or\u00a0military drills near Australian waters<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Xi Jinping said that China engaged in exercises just as Australia engages in exercises,\u201d Mr Albanese said.<\/p>\n \u201cI said what I said at the time\u00e2\u20ac\u00af\u2026\u00a0but that we were concerned about the notice and the ways that it happened, including the live-fire exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, President Xi reportedly defended China\u2019s actions, saying Beijing had the right to conduct its own military drills.<\/p>\n The opposition has attacked Mr Albanese’s trip to China, characterising it as bloated and lacking hard outcomes.<\/p>\n Shadow finance minister James Paterson told Sky News the visit was \u201cstarting to look a little bit indulgent\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI do wonder whether\u2026 a visit to Chengdu to pose with some pandas\u2026 is strictly necessary as part of a six-day visit to China,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much else at stake in our other international relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo echoed the criticism, suggesting the prime minister should have tried to meet with the US instead.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have done the six days with the pandas and all the rest of it,\u201d Mr Pezzullo told Sky News on Satruday.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have had a shorter, sharper visit. The engagement with the President is important\u2026 but the rest of it was optional.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he would have encouraged the prime minister to have \u201cblunt\u201d discussions behind closed doors about Taiwan, stressing that any conflict would drag Australia in and have devastating consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The trip began with US defence official Elbridge Colby saying that a condition of the AUKUS pact should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8932,64,8931,63,512,44,2489],"class_list":{"0":"post-7060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-albanese","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-auspol","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-china","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}