PM fails to justify AUKUS amid peace-through-trade agenda with China

Anthony Albanese has failed to justify AUKUS while spruiking his peace-through-trade agenda with China from atop the Great Wall. The Prime Minister is in China on a six-day diplomatic and business blitz boasting the boons of deep bilateral trade, tourism and people-to-people links. The mission has gone down well, with Mr Albanese and his hosts emerging from meetings starry-eyed about the prospect of a future shaped by economic partnership rather than the spectre of an increasingly militaristic regional rivalry. But contrary to the rhetoric from both Mr Albanese and Xi Jinping, neither have agreed to change course on defence. Camera…