China urged to learn from the Kremlin’s failures
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned the Chinese government to learn the lessons of Russia’s “strategic failure” in Ukraine, as he heads to Europe for a meeting of Nato leaders.
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, conducted en route to Spain for the Nato meeting, Albanese said the Ukraine invasion had brought democratic nations together, “whether they be members of Nato, or non-members such as Australia”.
When asked what message the Chinese government should take from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Albanese said the war “had shown attempts to impose change by force on a sovereign country meet resistance”.
Albanese’s latest comments come at a time when Australia and China are tentatively exploring restarting diplomatic engagement under his centre-left government, which was sworn last month after winning the May election.
However, there are still a large number of points of diplomatic tension between the countries, including Beijing’s growing presence in the Pacific, punitive measures placed by China on Australian exports and the detention of two prominent Chinese-Australians.
Beijing has been clear in its ambitions to unite the mainland with the self-ruled island of Taiwan in the coming decades.
China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province, despite the two being separately governed for more than 70 years.
In recent years, the mainland has ramped up its military exercises and drills in the air and sea around Taiwan in what the US and its allies have said is a pattern of growing aggression towards the island.
Albanese will join the leaders of three other Asia-Pacific nations – Japan, South Korea and New Zealand – at the Nato summit in Spain, before flying to Paris for a meeting to mend ties with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Ties between France and Australia have been tense since Paris accused former leader Scott Morrison of abandoning a French submarine contract with no warning in late 2021, in favour of a nuclear fleet provided by the United States and Britain.