The Prime Minister and his harem of advisors, bureaucrats, and industry hangers-on have returned after a six-day tour in China.

At the moment it’s a toss-up between being worried taxpayer dollars were spent achieving nothing, or that too much was agreed on without democratic oversight.

The only transparency offered was a series of holiday snaps that could kindly be described as propaganda fed to both the Australian press and the Chinese people.

Upon finishing the tour, Albanese sat down with the ABC for an interview.

Aside from his latest catchphrase, ‘people-to-people links’ (in which he describes using the 1.4 million-strong Chinese-Australian diaspora as an important linkage, he goes on to talk about steel decarbonisation.

‘If we are going to address the emissions reduction that the globe needs, the steel decarbonisation has to be a part of that. And the idea of combining green metals, green steel production, is something that is very significant to take the world forward, as well as being in our national economic interest.’

Many are starting to suspect the word ‘green’ is being thrown in front of words at random.

While the Prime Minister coughed up green promises and gushed over the sprawling urban landscapes, he failed to mention China’s status as one of the most polluted countries on Earth.

China is not a green sanctuary and pretending it lords over Australia as some sort of spiritual beacon for nature-positive enlightenment makes Labor look laughably crooked.

There have been a few interesting observations from the press.

The Australian called the Prime Minister, ‘Mr Inbetween’. Sky News Australia said he was ‘in Beijing’s pocket’ following a ‘fluffy’ China visit. The Conversation called it ‘pragmatic engagement’. And the ABC said Albanese ‘isn’t doing diplomacy by halves’.

Meanwhile, South China’s Morning Post ran the concerning headline: Albanese’s China trip shows ‘stiffening of Canberra’s spine’ in the face of US pressure.

David Speers’ ABC article, Albanese’s China visit was predictable – and a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s chaos went on to say:

‘In a sea of global uncertainty, the one thing that stood out from the Prime Minister’s visit to China this week was its predictability.’

This is, apparently, in contrast to Trump’s ‘rolling shocks and surprises’ which make it ‘difficult to know what to expect from Washington’.

A careful reminder here for those who fancy predictability: the hunter loves to watch prey follow the predictable path into a trap. Being predictable in turbulent geopolitical times makes a nation easy to manipulate and outplay. It is not generally considered a ‘virtue’.

Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two different nations and created peace between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, seemingly in his spare time. His ‘rough seas’ approach has shipwrecked bad actors and forced the storm’s survivors to the negotiating table. If Trump cleans up Biden’s mess in Europe, it will be difficult for anyone to fault his unconventional approach to foreign affairs.

Our Prime Minister, meanwhile, is more likely to accidentally start a Pacific war while taking a holiday snap, such is his lack of grace and geopolitical awareness.

The little we know about the Australia-China agenda under Labor suggests ‘pushing broader partnerships’ on the stated topics of education, healthcare, aviation, green energy, dryland-farming, and climate-smart agriculture.

On the topic of healthcare, Albanese released an X post that read:

‘Australia is a world leader in medical research.

‘And Australian and Chinese scientists are working together towards new breakthroughs.

‘Today in Chengdu, we brought together leaders in the medical technology industry from Australia and China.

‘Together, our two countries can bring new hope and better health to people right across the world.’

Did Albanese secure a firm apology and financial compensation from the CCP after their last medical mishap crippled Australia?

Forgive us if we don’t trust the Chinese medical industry when Beijing used its connections at the WHO to cover up a mistake that cost the lives of 7 million worldwide.

Albanese spent a lot of time talking about Australia earning China’s trust. That goes both ways and yet the Prime Minister exhibited none of the prudence he ought to when safeguarding the health of Australians.

It is not at all clear if Australians want their healthcare partnered with the nation that cooked up Covid or gets caught cutting quality assurance corners and safety standards.

Further to the point, if China were to make good on its promise to invade Taiwan in 2027, the very last thing Australia needs is its health industry entwined with China. It is also worth looking at a paper from the Department of Defence and Pentagon in 2023 that warned of China bioengineering.

‘The report discusses the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to create new biological science alongside those of Russia, North Korea, and Iran.’

Here’s a short segment from the accompanying article:

‘One leading neuroscience researcher estimated that, “Some 95 per cent of papers using transgenic monkeys come from China.” Further, Chinese researchers have cloned primates and genetically modified cynomolgus monkeys to exhibit “autistic-like” behaviours. As far back as 2001, a Chinese scientist created the world’s first human-rabbit embryo, leading to scientific and ethical outcry and new bans.

The BPR specifically mentions China’s plan to lead the globe in genetic engineering, precision medicine, and brain sciences and said, “Chinese publications have called biology a new domain of war.”’

From a purely strategic standpoint, Albanese is either blind, historically illiterate, delusional, or unbothered by future harm.

Getting closer to China is meant to be Labor’s way of signalling independence from America, which is a foolish ambition even for a socialist-leaning party.

That is not independence.

We have traded a Western partnership for a Communist master.

Western democracies are dying faster than pandas.

As Spectator Australia Editor-in-Chief Rowan Dean said on his Sunday show Outsiders:

‘It was excruciating. It was cringe-worthy. It was an embarrassment. I’m afraid Anthony Albanese wandering around looking like a cheap tourist from a Contiki tour was just excruciating. We are now a vassal state to China. That’s the position he’s put us in. This is how the Chinese Emperor likes it. You come, you pay tribute… Albanese completely demeaned Australia … Australia is a great, powerful nation. We are mates with the greatest military power in the world. We should be ‘LIKE THAT’ with America. The greatest military power that has ever existed.’