Supporters of the CCP were equally represented outside the zoo,blasting patriotic anthems and holding signs welcoming Li to Adelaide. The Chinese diaspora in Australia is not as anti-regime as it once was,with recent arrivals inclined to feel more positively about the CCP than those who arrived after the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. Politicians are aware of this as they chase votes in this increasingly powerful electoral cohort.

Li landed in Adelaide on Saturday night with an optimistic message that “China-Australia relations were back on track after a series of twists and turns,generating tangible benefits to the people of both countries”.

The premier’s arrival statement also carried a warning,perhaps even a threat.

“History has proven that seeking common ground while shelving differences and mutually beneficial co-operation are the valuable experience in growing China-Australia relations and must be upheld and carried forward,” he said.

It was a sentence that went to the heart of the different and irreconcilable way Australia and China view the relationship.

Beijing believes that shelving differences – like the human rights violations raised by the protesters outside the zoo – is key to getting along. Canberra believes that raising points of dispute must be part of a mature and productive relationship,even as the Albanese government tries to avoid the confrontational rhetoric its Coalition government predecessor occasionally deployed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to raise matters of concern – such as thesuspended death sentence handed to Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun and aChinese fighter jet dropping flares near an Australian navy helicopter – during Li’s visit. How forcefully and publicly he conveys these concerns remains to be seen.

After the zoo,the officials made their way to the Penfolds Magill wine estate,chosen to celebrate the resumption of Australian wine exports to China in March after theremoval of punishing tariffs introduced by Beijing in 2020. Australian winemakers are delighted that their wares are once again flowing into what was their largest export market.

The lunch menu – starting with an entree of South Australian rock lobster – was as rich in symbolism as it was in flavour. Rock lobster and crayfish are the major trade disputes yet to be resolved between Canberra and Beijing. Australian officials are confident an announcement on the resumption of seafood exports to China is imminent and hope Li’s Adelaide lunch could give Beijing the final push it needs.

Li’s visit to Canberra on Monday for his official meeting with Albanese will be a more substantive and serious affair than his Adelaide excursion. But there is no expectation of a joint press conference at which Li can be confronted with tough questions about human rights abuses in China,the harassment of anti-CCP activists in Australia by foreign agents or the recent dangerous encounters between the Chinese and Australian militaries.

The Chinese premier may be on Australian soil,but concessions to democracy only go so far.

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