Hedging bets on China
Anthony Albanese received a warm welcome on Friday from a nation that sees Australia as a fellow traveller in a region being defined by China’s rise.
For months, officials in the Philippines government had been asking their Australian counterparts when Anthony Albanese could visit the country. President Bongbong Marcos, elected in June 2022, was extremely keen for the Australian prime minister to visit his shores.
Albanese landed in Manila on Thursday night for the first bilateral visit to the Philippines by an Australian prime minister in two decades. The fleeting visit, which saw the PM spend less than 24 hours in the country, was squeezed in between the prime minister's trips to Jakarta for ASEAN and New Delhi for the G20.
The Filipinos laid it on thick for Albanese on Friday morning, with musicians playing Waltzing Matilda on traditional bamboo instruments as they welcomed the PM in the sprawling green grounds of the Malacañan Palace.
Albanese and Marcos then signed a strategic partnership agreement, which will pave the way for more joint naval patrols in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, and announced new 12-month working holiday visas for citizens of both countries between the ages of 18 and 30.
