President Joe Biden Warns Anthony Albanese Ahead of His China Visit This Week

Since Joe Biden had to abruptly postpone his May trip to Australia, the President issued an official invitation to Anthony Albanese. Australian PM Albanese is attempting to mend ties with the communist country of China, but Biden has cautioned Australia against blindly trusting China. They discussed the Indo-Pacific area and agreed that there should be reduced dependence on China on the global and regional stages. 

As reported by The Daily Mail, Biden called the Chinese relationship to be one of "trust but verify" at a press conference in Washington held in conjunction with Prime Minister Albanese. He also blasted Beijing for its navy's "dangerous and unlawful" behavior within the Philippine EEZ in the South China Sea. Biden said, "I want to be clear … the United States defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad. Any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels or armed forces will invoke our mutual defense treaty with the Philippines." Biden said that China might anticipate "extreme competition" from the United States in all areas consistent with international norms, but never conflict.

In 2021, Biden formed a trilateral security partnership with Australia and Britain under AUKUS. This agreement allows the submarines in Australia's conventional fleet to be powered by nuclear technology provided by the United States.

The official statement read, "As the first initiative under AUKUS, recognizing our common tradition as maritime democracies, we commit to a shared ambition to support Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. Today, we embark on a trilateral effort of 18 months to seek an optimal pathway to deliver this capability. We will leverage expertise from the United States and the United Kingdom, building on the two countries’ submarine programs to bring an Australian capability into service at the earliest achievable date."

When asked if he could ensure that the necessary legislation for AUKUS would pass Congress, Biden replied he was optimistic that it would. He further added, "It's overwhelmingly in our interest, when...we put together the deal, I was asked by Xi Jinping were we just trying to surround China. I said, 'No, we're not surrounding China. We're just making sure that the sea lanes remain open,' he doesn't get to unilaterally be able to change the rules of the road in terms of what constitutes international airspace and water space, et cetera. And so, that's what this is all about." The US leader revealed to Albanese that Xi had once questioned him "Why I was working so hard with your country". To this Biden replied, "I said, ‘Because we’re a Pacific nation’. We are, and we’re going to stay that way."

President Biden and Albanese met in the Oval Office to discuss bilateral issues. At the ceremonial arrival for Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, earlier in the day, about 4,000 onlookers gathered on the South Lawn of the White House. Biden and Albanese both emphasized the significance of the U.S.-Australian relationship, particularly in light of the difficulties that both democracies confront on a global scale. Biden said, "The alliance between Australia and the United States has never been more important than it is today, and we have never been more committed than we are today. Australia and America stand ready to do the hard work, the historic work, to tackle the challenges we face. Today, we are taking our alliance even further."