Aug 10, 2026 · 23 min · 11 segments
China blocked trade, froze out ministers, and left lobsters rotting on the tarmac, and still couldn't force Australia to budge. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former Australian…
Graham FletcherGuest
Mihai SoraHost
Coming to you from Gadigal land, I'm Mihai Sora, the Institute's Director of Research.
Since coming into office in 2022, the Albanese government has worked hard to patch things up with Beijing.
And yet, Lowy Institute polling indicates that public trust in China to act responsibly in the world sits at just 28%.
Last year, we saw Chinese warships circle the Australian continent, and in the last month, China launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific, rattling the foundations of the relationship once more.
So how stable is this new normal, and how far can the relationship really go? My guest is the author of a new Lowy Institute analysis on that question, and a former Australian ambassador in Beijing, Graham Fletcher.
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Coming to you from Gadigal land, I'm Mihai Sora, the Institute's Director of Research.
Since coming into office in 2022, the Albanese government has worked hard to patch things up with Beijing.
And yet, Lowy Institute polling indicates that public trust in China to act responsibly in the world sits at just 28%.
Last year, we saw Chinese warships circle the Australian continent, and in the last month, China launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific, rattling the foundations of the relationship once more.
So how stable is this new normal, and how far can the relationship really go? My guest is the author of a new Lowy Institute analysis on that question, and a former Australian ambassador in Beijing, Graham Fletcher.
