The new Australian PM has his task cut out with regard to his role in QUAD vis-à-vis China

The Chinese feel that Australian Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese, who succeeds Scott Morrison as the Prime Minister, may adopt a less hostile attitude towards them. Where does that feeling leave the QUAD? The US-initiated security dialogue is about countering the projection of Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific. As an equal partner in the quadrilateral, how the Albanese-led Australia interprets the growing tension between China and the United States becomes crucial for both. The QUAD had a chequered first phase when under Liberal John Howard, Australia withdrew from the dialogue, and his successor, Labour’s Kevin Rudd, did not rejoin. The strategic initiative got a second life in 2017, and the four members are today more serious than ever to protect the QUAD. That is why the QUAD would like to reassure themselves that the shrillness of the campaign in the run-up to the just-concluded Australian elections, particularly over the Liberal-Labour spat over who is closer to China and who is not, will not find its echo now that Albanese has taken over. The QUAD and the Australian people want to know if Albanese will review or continue with Morrison’s policies. The China-Australia ties were at their worst during Morrison’s tenure. In the recent election campaign, Labour was under intense public scrutiny over its China policy. The Morrison-led Liberals accused Albanese of being soft on China, claiming that “the Chinese Government has picked their horse and he’s sitting right there”. A video showing Albanese trying to speak in Mandarin at an Australian Chinese trade association dinner in 2018 was recirculated afresh.
Albanese did not take the bait and maintained that there will not be a major change on contentious matters like Taiwan and the South China Sea. He said Australia’s relationship with China “will remain a challenging one”, and that the friendship with the US will remain the “first pillar” of Australia’s foreign policy. Closer to the election, the Labour party displayed a similarly hardened attitude towards China. Labour’s Penny Wong — the new Foreign Minister — led her campaign saying they will not take “a backward step” on Australia’s current tensions with China. The same Wong had said a year ago that the bilateral friction does not mean that “there’s no room for improvement in our actions”. Wong also criticised Morrison for preferring the AUKUS-linked nuclear-powered submarines pact over the French submarine deal. The Labour at that time wanted Australia to have a view separate from the US over military and security matters. To think that Albanese, new to international diplomacy at this level, would adopt an America-first policy and simultaneously try to rationalise relations with China appears far-fetched. For its part, China is leaving no stone unturned to send the message that a healthy relationship is in the interests of both countries. Beijing will lose no opportunity to drive a wedge in the QUAD. It is time for the real Albanese to stand up.