No shift in Australia defence policy after Xi meeting

A meeting between Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping is a step towards normalising ties after years of diplomatic freeze but would not bring a shift in Canberra’s defence policy, Australian diplomats said.
The leaders met for 30 minutes on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, Australia’s first bilateral meeting with Xi since 2016. In public comments, both leaders acknowledged the difficulties in the relationship, and the need to manage their differences.
Albanese said the AUKUS alliance with Britain and the United States to transfer nuclear submarine capability to Australia, which is opposed by China, was not raised in the meeting by Xi.
Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos, said Canberra wanted to “take some of the heat out of the relationship” after dealing with China’s “economic and trade coercion”.