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London: Former prime minister Scott Morrison has warned his successor, Anthony Albanese, that the Chinese Communist Party could exploit his visit for propaganda purposes.

Albanese is due to begin a visit to China on Saturday, marking a warming in the relationship that reached a nadir under Morrison, when Beijing refused to take calls from Australian officials and leaders.

Scott Morrison has warned Anthony Albanese the Chinese Communist Party could exploit his China visit to meet President Xi Jinping. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen and AP

Albanese has said his visit, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam’s trip to Beijing, is a result of his government’s attempts to stabilise relations with China.

Asked if Albanese should be making the trip, Morrison said Australia should be wary about the way the Chinese could exploit the trip.

“I have no doubt that when the prime minister goes there, he will go there with the best of intentions to present Australia’s national interest,” Morrison said.

“That said, he cannot control what the Communist Party in China will do with that and how those images will be used, and how that can be taken advantage of.”

In a press conference on Tuesday, Albanese noted the importance of China for Australian trade and recent breakthroughs in removing timber, barley, hay and wine tariffs.

“There is the issue of our citizens that we’ll continue to raise,” he said, referring to democracy activist Dr Yang Hengjun, who remains in a Chinese prison. “We’ll continue to raise issues, including our view about the South China Sea and the importance of … passage for our trade through the waterways of the world. And we’ll continue to state our view, which is that international law is very important.”

Morrison said he was pleased dialogue had resumed between Australia and China, but stressed it was not the fault of Australia that communication had stopped.

“It should never have stopped, and it wasn’t Australia that stopped it,” he said. “It was China who stopped it because they didn’t like the fact that we stood up to them.”

Morrison was speaking on the sidelines of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, a new centre-right conference in London drawing together conservative figures from across the world.

He is attending alongside former Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard.

Morrison said he had discussed the letter he had signed alongside five other former prime ministers, including Labor’s Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, with Abbott and Howard at the conference, saying: “I think it’s great to give that sense of confidence and support to the Jewish community.”

Paul Keating was the only living Australian prime minister not to sign the document, but Morrison said he was not disappointed.

“Paul has every right to express his view as he wants to,” he said. “This wasn’t a caucus; it was an invitation to be involved, and he didn’t wish to do that for his reasons. I respect that.”

Morrison previously told this masthead that his government – which had controversially recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – had strongly supported the State of Israel, as well as a two-state solution, “and I was very pleased to join with others to restate this position, which is commonly held by each of us”.

The letter from the six former prime ministers said they “stood in solidarity with Jewish Australians at this time”, condemned the Hamas atrocities in the attack of October 7 and warned that the Israel-Hamas war was “being used by some to spread ancient hatreds which have inflicted so much suffering on the Jewish people for thousands of years”.

Keating said in a statement he had been contacted by Mark Leibler – former president of the Zionist Federation – but declined to be involved.

“I told Leibler in a written message that I would not be agreeing to join other former prime ministers in authorising the statement. That remains my position,” he said.

Asked about Keating’s stance on Tuesday, Albanese said it was “a question for Paul Keating, I would have thought”.

“I support the positions that I’ve taken, and the position in the parliament last Monday was done with overwhelming support,” he said.

“It is important that we recognise that the attacks from Hamas on Israel are worthy of absolute condemnation in an unequivocal way.

“It’s also important to recognise that Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does that matters. And we need to make sure, as well, that every civilian life is valued, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian. Every innocent loss of life is a tragedy.”

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.

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