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

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

Australia

Orange Wang

Published: 5:52pm, 4 Jun 2022

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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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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.

Analysts expect the new Australian prime minister’s China policy to be less “provocative”, though Albanese has said the relationship with Beijing will remain “a difficult one”.

“It is China that has changed, not Australia, and Australia should always stand up for our values and we will in a government that I lead,” Albanese said ahead of a summit in Tokyo last week with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and India – fellow members of the Quad security alliance that Beijing has slammed as a deliberate tool to contain China and stoke confrontation.

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Wang’s comments in PNG came ahead of a visit to East Timor, as he wrapped up an eight-nation tour of the region – weeks after China’s security pact with the Solomon Islands sparked alarm among the US and its allies regarding a possible Chinese naval base there.

As Wang embarked on his 10-day diplomatic trip to expand Chinese military, economic and diplomatic influence in the South Pacific, Australia dispatched its new Foreign Minister Penny Wong to Fiji and then to Samoa and Tonga on a counter mission.

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Wang said should Australia look at China and relations with it in a “sensible and positive” way and create the necessary conditions for bringing bilateral relations back on track.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the new Australian government should face the crux of problems in bilateral relations.

Asked whether China planned to hold tariff talks with Australia and how bilateral ties could get back on track, Gao said: “[It is hoped that the new Australian government will] treat China and China’s development objectively and rationally, do more things conducive to mutual trust and cooperation … and create favourable conditions for the healthy and stable development of bilateral economic and trade relations.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and China. In dollar terms, China’s imports from Australia fell 26.2 per cent from a year ago in April, while exports Australia rose 7.4 per cent.

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