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Hello from Tokyo. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is traveling to China next week, in what will be the first visit to the East Asian country by an Australian prime minister since 2016. But perhaps more significantly, Albanese will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before expected meetings between his allies -- U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida -- and the Chinese leader at the APEC summit in mid-November.

This week's Big Story focuses on Australian foreign policy, which traditionally has not been known for dominating global headlines. As mentioned in the story, Henry Kissinger famously quipped in the early 1990s, "When I am shaving in the morning, I am not thinking about Australian foreign policy." But the situation has changed dramatically.

Australia's geopolitical importance has grown along with its security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan in the Indo-Pacific. This has inevitably drawn Canberra into Washington's escalating confrontation with Beijing. China has portrayed Australia as a puppet of the U.S., and the relationship quickly soured when then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison incurred Beijing's wrath by proposing an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

Albanese appears to be taking a different approach than his predecessor, making it clear he will eschew the outspoken style of Morrison. This change of tone has allowed Beijing to begin dismounting from its policy of belligerence and punishment. There have already been positive developments, such as China's release of an imprisoned Australian journalist and an agreement that could see Australian wine begin flowing back into China again. How this bilateral relationship improves may serve as a harbinger of future U.S.-China and Japan-China relations.

Indeed, ties between Washington and Beijing are also moving forward. China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is currently visiting the U.S. to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, raising hopes for a Biden-Xi meeting in November. With two wars -- in Ukraine and the Middle East -- raging at the same time, the leaders of the two major powers have plenty of reasons to meet.

The two sides have many thorny issues to discuss, from trade to Taiwan to the South China Sea, but the one nonnegotiable for both would be the ongoing race over technological hegemony. The U.S. has imposed strict export controls to thwart China's semiconductor ambitions, but these efforts have not been as effective as expected. Our Business Spotlight explains how China is circumventing U.S. efforts through tactics such as shell companies, smuggling and creative use of older equipment.

As Israel steps up its preparations for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Asia braces for possible ripple effects from turmoil in the Middle East. The cross-border raid into Israel by Hamas militants has raised concerns in South Korea, which shares an uneasy frontier with North Korea, one of Asia's security concerns. Our Asia Insight provides an on-the-ground perspective from the Demilitarized Zone.

Finally, I would like to share a story from the Life & Arts section. I have traveled to Portugal several times, and one of the main attractions for me there is the historical legacy of the Age of Discovery, along with delicious food and port wine. Remnants of this legacy can also be found in India. In the western state of Goa, a historic building from that era is being restored by a couple with the surname Vasco da Gama, recalling the great Portuguese navigator.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Shin Nakayama

Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia

Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @ShinNakayama_NA