No autopilot: China says Australia ties reset calls for ‘concrete actions’ from new government

Name: Australian winemakers squeezed by Chinese tariffs leave tonnes of grapes to rot
Uploaded: 2022-06-04T09:52:42.000Z
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Description: Australian winemakers squeezed by Chinese tariffs leave tonnes of grapes to rot

Power shift in Canberra has sparked hopes of better China ties after years of damaging acrimony under ex-prime minister Scott Morrison

Australia should look at China and relations with it in a ‘sensible and positive’ way, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted a “significant retrogression” in exchanges following years of “positive and pragmatic China policy” from Australia. Photo: Xinhua

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Published: 5:52pm, 4 Jun 2022Updated: 6:14pm, 4 Jun 2022

The Chinese foreign minister has called on Canberra to take “concrete actions” to reset bilateral relations, as talk swirls about the way forward under new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The “crux” of difficulties in relations in recent years was political forces in Australia that insisted on viewing China as a rival rather than a partner, framing its development as a threat rather than an opportunity, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Responding to reporters during a visit to Papua New Guinea on Friday, Wang said this mindset led to a “significant retrogression” in exchanges following years of “positive and pragmatic China policy” from Canberra, state news agency Xinhua reported.

“There is no ‘autopilot’ mode for improving China-Australia relations. A reset requires concrete actions,” he said. “This meets the aspirations of the two peoples and the trend of our time.”

Wang’s remarks come amid cautious optimism that the power shift in Canberra last month would offer a chance to mend ties after more than two years of acrimony, especially over trade disputes – with steep tariffs imposed on several Australian imports by No 1 trade partner China.

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Australian winemakers squeezed by Chinese tariffs leave tonnes of grapes to rot

Albanese led his Australian Labor Party to victory in federal elections in late May, ending almost four years of government under Liberal leader Scott Morrison. Morrison’s time in office was marked by some of Canberra’s worst ties with Beijing in decades, over issues such as the origins of the coronavirus, alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.