Albanese brushes off Chinese paper's praise for him as role model for Western leaders
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The news: Anthony Albanese has refused to weigh in on an editorial in a Chinese government mouthpiece that heaped praise on the Australian prime minister, nominating him as a role model for other Western leaders.
The context: An editorial by English-language newspaper China Daily said Australia under Albanese had “woken up to the significance” of the economic relationship between Canberra and Beijing and that he was a “useful reference” for other countries in dealing with a pending trade war between China and the United States under Donald Trump.
The effusive praise came just days before Albanese is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the APEC leaders summit in Lima, Peru, Albanese said he would leave reaction to the editorial “to you and the commentators”, but he said his government’s rapprochement with Beijing had been done “without compromising any of Australia’s national interests”.
Albanese also wouldn’t comment on why the Chinese president was absent from today’s meetings between leaders at the APEC summit despite arriving in Lima the day before, saying “I don't know why he's not there. That's a matter for President Xi”.
What they said: “I don't subscribe to the China Daily — I can confirm that. I've seen some of the reports of it. But we stand up for Australia's national interest,” Albanese said.
“I would have thought that all Australians would be pleased that there's an increase in our export to China.
“We've done that without compromising any of Australia's values, by being clear about what our views are, and we've continued to do that. And I look forward to continuing to pursue Australia's national interest, because that's my job.”
“Our relationship with the United States is very different from our relationship with China who have a different political system and have different values.
“Now we will point that out where it's appropriate, but we will also try to cooperate where we can.
“That's what my government has put in place, very clearly, very unequivocally, consistently, so that people know where we're coming from. And I must say that is in Australia's national interests.
“At the same time, I believe as a trading nation we have an interest in trade, and we have an interest in Australian jobs being created and boosting Australian prosperity by engaging in our region, including with our major trading partner, the major destination for our exports, which is China.”
The source: Prime Minister's press conference
