Canberra is described as quietly confident in its resilience yet wary of Beijing’s overtures to go further and into new areas of activity
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenCarol Yangin BeijingPublished: 8:30pm, 9 Aug 2026After years of strain, China-Australia ties have reached a “good enough” baseline for Canberra, though still short of Beijing’s broader ambitions, according to a former top Australian diplomat.The relationship had taken a significant downturn since 2017, but was now on “a more realistic footing”, Graham Fletcher, a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank, wrote in a report released on Sunday.
Fletcher served as Australia’s ambassador to China from 2019 to 2023.
The countries are currently reviewing their decade-long free-trade agreement, and Australia served as the guest country of honour at China’s International Supply Chain Promotion Expo held in Beijing in June.
