Rudd hails Australia’s ‘first-class’ ties with Trump
Australia’s Ambassador Kevin Rudd has praised Anthony Albanese for leading the alliance while repairing ties with China following a successful bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Mr Rudd, shrugging off the sarcastic personal barbs he received from Mr Trump during the press spray, told the Citi A50 Sydney Investment Summit Canberra that high-powered financial executives were viewed favorably in Washington DC.
“Australia … enjoys a first-class working relationship with the Trump administration … and you have seen some of the practical fruits of that in the decision the Prime Minister has adopted in recent days,” he said in a gilded chamber of the Opera House on Thursday.
Mr Rudd was referring to the multibillion-dollar deal signed in early October that gives the US greater access to Australia’s critical mineral reserves.
Mr Trump heaped praise on Mr Albanese, citing cooperation between the US and Australia at a private dinner with other world leaders on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea on Thursday.
“You’ve done a great job…we work together on rare earths, but we work together on a lot of things and it’s going very well,” he said.
In a fireside chat with NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey at the Sydney summit, former prime minister Mr Rudd said Mr Albanese had played a key role in rebuilding ties with China “after many disruptions in trade relations”.
Relations nearly came to a breaking point before stabilizing during Scott Morrison’s tenure, but striving for political and military influence in the Asia-Pacific has required careful management of relations with the United States and China.
“The key strategic tensions in the region will remain and the practical challenge for the state administration will be how to manage these ongoing operational tensions,” Mr Rudd said.
Both Australia and China have recently been at loggerheads over a confrontation between their militaries in the South China Sea, much of which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
The government said a Chinese warplane fired a flare near one of its patrol planes, prompting Beijing to complain that Canberra was trying to cover up an “intrusion” into Chinese airspace.
Mr Albanese avoided hiccups and said he hoped trade tensions between the US and China would ease.
“The United States and China have an important role as the two major economic powers in our region,” he said.
“These are important relationships for Australia.”
The talks between Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Mr Rudd said were of “fundamental importance”, came after months of friction over tariffs and security.
“Not only have we managed a stable, productive and expanding relationship with the United States, we have also re-stabilized China relations,” Mr Rudd said.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
