Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd appointed ambassador to US

SYDNEY - Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has been appointed Australia’s next ambassador to the United States, at a time when both countries are

deepening security cooperation in response to a rising China.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Mr Rudd one of the world’s most sought-after experts on China and said he would bring significant experience to the role at a time when the region was being reshaped by strategic competition.

“Kevin Rudd is an outstanding appointment,” said Mr Albanese at a news conference on Tuesday ahead of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s state visit to China.

“He brings a great deal of credit to Australia by agreeing to take up this position as a former prime minister, as a former foreign minister.”

Mr Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, has written and spoken widely on foreign relations with China since he quit politics in 2013. He completed an Oxford doctorate on the world view of Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and heads the Asia Society, an international relations institute, in New York.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Mr Rudd wrote: “I am greatly honoured by the Australian Government’s decision to nominate me as our country’s next Ambassador to the United States of America commencing in March.”

Mr Albanese said the appointment of Mr Rudd, which follows the September appointment of former foreign minister Stephen Smith to the British ambassadorship, reflected the importance of the

Aukus nuclear submarine security deal

with the United Kingdom and the United States.

“It is no accident we are engaged in Aukus and that those decisions require significant diplomatic but also, of course, a knowledge of the political structures that are in place,” said Mr Albanese. REUTERS