Albanese warns about US-China in award speech as Trump, Xi meet

Anthony Albanese has warned how Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping manage their high-stakes relationship “matters profoundly”, as he accepted a global award for leadership on the sidelines of the United States General Assembly.

Mr Albanese accepted the 2026 Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award in star-studded ceremony in New York on Thursday, with the Labor leader joining the likes of Wicked actor Cynthia Erivo and Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali.

The award comes as Donald Trump welcomes Mr Xi to Washington in the Chinese leader’s first state visit since 2015.

In his speech, Mr Albanese warned “How Washington and Beijing manage their relationship matters profoundly”.

“The most consequential factor shaping the Indo-Pacific is the strategic competition between the United States and China,” he said.

“Our alliance with the United States is the anchor of Australia’s foreign policy.

“For our largest trading partner, China, our approach is clear: co-operate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in the national interest.

“Through sustained leader level engagement, we are advancing Australian interests while managing differences … without allowing wither relationship to refine who we are.”

However, Mr Albanese said the Indo-Pacific was “not a chessboard on which superpowers can move the pieces”.

“Its countries are not spectators. They are shaping its future and writing their own script,” he said.

“Contemporary challenges are driving countries to place greater weight to resilience alongside efficiency – in critical minerals, in energy, in new technologies.

“We have seen why: war and disruption can drive up energy prices and interrupt supply chains far beyond the conflict. The pandemic taught the same lesson.

“Governments must build the capacity to withstand shocks they did not cause and cannot control.”

Mr Albanese noted Australia’s fourth-only alliance, signed by the Prime Minister in Fiji earlier this year.