Australian Foreign Minister heads to China, ending unofficial ban on visits
- Marise Payne will meet with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as frosty relations between the two countries thaw
- Ties strained since Australia accused China of meddling in its domestic affairs
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne will travel to China this week, ending an unofficial suspension of more than six months of visits by top Australian government ministers.
The two governments announced on Monday that Payne’s visit, which begins on Wednesday, will include talks with China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Ties between the two countries, which compete for influence in Asia and particularly in the Pacific, have been strained since Australia accused China of meddling in its domestic affairs late last year.
Payne’s trip is being seen in Australia as a bid by China to seek warmer ties with Australia’s recently installed Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“I am looking forward to discussions with Minister Wang to enhance bilateral understanding and cooperation across the full range of Australia’s interests, spanning strategic, economic and people-to-people connections,” Payne said.
As Canberra’s ties with Beijing come under pressure, Chinese-Australians are facing a new kind of discrimination
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying noted that Payne and Wang had met in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and had reached “an important consensus” on ties.