Sabrina Sohail is a student of National Defense University, Islamabad.

The historical visit of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to China brought speculation of Australia-China Relations leaping forward in the history of their bilateral relations. Making him the first Australian PM to visit China in 7 years, Anthony shed light on the importance of their relations with China, their biggest trading partner.

Subsequently, the visit by the Prime Minister stood as a ray of hope for businessmen and traders alike who saw the event as a pre-step to re-continuing economic exchange agreements between the two countries. Indeed, the visit reciprocated in the stabilization of relations and saw a decrease in tariffs and bans on imports and exports exchange but with many aspects left untouched. PM Albanese had already made it clear that China was an important ally for Australia. So, the change in leadership of Australia and the economic restriction posed by China made Australia take a step back and minimize targeting their largest trading partner on different fronts.

Many speculated that Australia and China have come to realize each other’s significance and would choose to avoid any offensive stance against one another. It soon proved not to be the case. Soon after the visit by Albanese, things went south when it was confirmed that Australian warships were being deployed in the South China Sea. Nearing a redline of China immediately after an attempt made to patch things up is a risk only a few would take. Correspondingly, one can see that for China and Australia bilateral relations have always been edgy. Not all visits and impressions of positive relations translate into an ever-lasting friendship.

Since the beginning of China and Australia’s diplomatic ties, 40 years ago, both countries have seen regular highs and lows in these relations. This reached a historic all-time low in the past 3-4 years which saw the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Australia turn into political........

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