Now that Anthony Albanese has broken the unprecedented six-year deep freeze with China, it is tempting to imagine that all our disputes with Beijing will evaporate in short order. This would be a mistake.
In truth, Australia’s relationship with a changing China cannot be viewed in isolation. The challenges faced by our prime minister and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, are not dissimilar to those faced by his counterparts in Tokyo, Ottawa or Stockholm. And many of the factors that shape these challenges are beyond Canberra’s control.
