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President Joe Biden has welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the White House for a private dinner with their partners, in a rare personal discussion before a day of formal meetings.<\/p>\n
Biden and his wife, Jill, met Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon, at the south entrance of the White House after the prime minister\u2019s motorcade arrived at the residence.<\/p>\n
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Jodie Haydon and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pose for a photo with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and Jill Biden, on their arrival for a private dinner at the White House on Tuesday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to the White House,\u201d Biden said as he greeted the guests.<\/p>\n When a reporter called out a question about whether Biden should urge Israel to delay its ground invasion of Gaza, the president said Israel would make its own decisions. The two leaders made no other remarks to the media before going inside.<\/p>\n The private dinner was held on Tuesday night in the White House after a day of meetings that included a $2 billion Australian pledge on finance for miners who export critical minerals and a $20 million Australian commitment for military help for Ukraine.<\/p>\n The next phase of the state visit will be a formal meeting between the prime minister and president on Wednesday, a press conference and a state dinner with more than 100 guests to be held on the south lawn of White House.<\/p>\n White House officials emphasised the importance of the personal ties between Biden and Albanese when the US focus on the Indo-Pacific region was \u201cright at the top of the list\u201d of American priorities.<\/p>\n US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Australian visit this week was a sign of the importance of alliances in the Indo-Pacific, adding strategic competitors such as Russia and China could not match the US in building partnerships.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not even close to the alliances and partnerships that we have,\u201d Kirby said in a briefing with reporters at the Australian embassy in Washington DC.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think even many Americans completely fully remember that five of our seven treaty alliances are in the Indo-Pacific region. The president takes that very, very seriously.<\/p>\n US President Joe Biden greets Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he arrives for dinner at the White House on Tuesday night.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cAnd the president believes in relationships, personal relationships, personal diplomacy.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, he values all the work that our professional diplomats do around the world, but he believes it\u2019s important for him to actually be there and to have conversations with people one-on-one. You can\u2019t phone in trust and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House meetings come at a time of tension between the US and China, with US authorities releasing video footage of Chinese fighters \u201cbuzzing\u201d US surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea, but an easing of tensions between Australia and China after several years of trade sanctions and diplomatic friction.<\/p>\n Albanese will visit China from November 4 to 7 to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing and attend a business expo in Shanghai, as well as marking 50 years since the Australian government under Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam recognised the People\u2019s Republic of China after decades of formal recognition for Taiwan.<\/p>\n In the US, however, the White House describes China as a \u201cstrategic competitor\u201d and turns to allies including Australia to help in maintaining regional security.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a competition that we mean to succeed in,\u201d said Kirby.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that means being able to cooperate where we can, communicate where we must, and obviously, as appropriate, work to counter some of the PRC\u2019s intimidation, coercion, excessive maritime claims.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, so we\u2019re taking a holistic view of this relationship. We believe that again, more open lines of communication with China is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n