Australian PM Albanese’s T-shirt diplomacy during Beijing visit heralds return to normal ties

SYDNEY - During his landmark visit to Beijing this week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

stopped by the Temple of Heaven

to try to recreate a defining image of the Australia-China relationship: a famous photograph taken at the site in 1973 during a visit by Mr Gough Whitlam, the first Australian leader to go to China.

Mr Albanese, the first Australian premier to visit China since 2016,

was no doubt hoping to signal to Beijing that he was following in the footsteps of Mr Whitlam, a fellow Labor Party leader who oversaw the establishment of diplomatic ties with China.