Australian and Chinese foreign ministers meet as ‘first step’ in efforts to restore relations
- New Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a G20 meeting in Bali
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says: ‘We should cooperate where we can. But we will stand up for Australian values where we must’
China is Australia’s largest trading partner but their relations turned sour after the former government led by Scott Morrison pushed Beijing to investigate the origin of the coronavirus in 2020.
China responded by imposing tariffs on exports of wine and barley, as well as blocking trade in other goods.
“We should cooperate where we can. But we will stand up for Australian values where we must,” Albanese told a news conference on Saturday after high-level talks aimed at convincing Beijing to drop punitive trade sanctions yielded no result.
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In her statement issued on Friday after meeting her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 conference in Bali, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “I welcome our discussion on issues of concern between our two countries, as well as the prosperity, security and stability of the region.”
“We spoke frankly and listened carefully to each other’s priorities and concerns,” she added. “We have our differences, but it is in both our countries’ interests for the relationship to be stabilised.”
She also said in her statement that Australia’s concerns about a range of bilateral, regional, trade and consular issues were raised at the meeting.
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It “remains the government’s position those trade blockages should be removed,” she said.
James Laurenceson, director at the University of Technology Sydney’s Australia-China Relations Institute told Australian media that the chances of Beijing quickly removing trade barriers are low.
“So, instead, the more realistic, best-case scenario is that there will be a gradual process of two-way diplomatic signalling and confidence building, charting an improvement in the trajectory over time,” he added.
China has repeatedly said that Australia needs to take “concrete action” to reset the relationship between the two countries, with foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian saying this week that “there is no ‘autopilot’ mode in improving China-Australia relations.”
But Albanese said last month that any further warming of relations would depend on whether Beijing agreed to remove barriers on Australian exports.
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Xiao Qian, China’s ambassador to Australia, said last month at a conference that Australia had caused a breakdown in relations between the two nations but that there is still an opportunity to improve the relationship if the new government in Canberra acts.
However, a recent poll conducted by an independent Australian think tank Lowy Institute found two thirds of people in Australia see China as a “security threat”, while only a third see it as “more of an economic partner”.
With additional reporting by Bloomberg and AFP
