USA
Rudd hails Canberra’s ‘first-class’ ties with Trump
Riding high from a successful bilateral meeting with United States President Donald Trump, Australia's ambassador Kevin Rudd has heaped praise on Anthony Albanese for managing the alliance while repairing ties with China.
Shrugging off the tongue-in-cheek personal jabs he received from Trump during a press spray, Rudd told high-powered financial executives at the Citi A50 Sydney Investment Summit Canberra was viewed positively in Washington DC.
"Australia ... is enjoying a first-class working relationship with the Trump administration ... and you've seen some of the practical fruit of that from what the PM agreed to in recent days," he said on Thursday in a gilded room at the Opera House.
Rudd was referring to the multibillion-dollar deal inked earlier in October that gives the US greater access to Australia's critical mineral reserves.
Trump heaped praise on Albanese at an exclusive dinner with other world leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea, talking up co-operation between the US and Australia.
In a fireside chat with NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey at the Sydney summit, former prime minister Rudd said Albanese was pivotal in restoring ties with China after "there were many disruptions to the trade relationship".
Ties strained to near breaking point under Scott Morrison's tenure before being steadied, but jockeying for political and military influence in the Asia-Pacific has required careful management of links with the US and China.
"The underlying strategic tensions in the region will remain and the practical challenge for statecraft will be how those rolling operational tensions are navigated," Rudd said.
Both Australia and China recently traded barbs over an encounter between their militaries in the South China Sea, most of which is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
The government said a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near one of its patrol planes, prompting Beijing to complain that Canberra was trying to cover up an "intrusion" into Chinese airspace.
