Australian foreign minister Penny Wong to visit China as diplomatic ties improve

SYDNEY - Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit China this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, signalling an improvement in diplomatic relations between Beijing and Canberra.

She will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and hold the sixth Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries on Wednesday.

It will be the first China visit by an Australian minister since 2019 and the first formal talks in Beijing between the two nations’ top diplomats since 2018.

“Australia seeks a stable relationship with China; we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in the national interest,” Mr Albanese said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Monday said Beijing hoped Ms Wong’s visit would “strengthen dialogue, expand cooperation and keep differences in check, while pushing bilateral relations back on track”. The two sides are set to “further implement the important consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders at their Bali summit”.

Diplomatic ties between Australia and its major trading partner China have deteriorated, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beijing was also angered by the previous Liberal government effectively banning Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from Australia’s 5G network.

A meeting between Mr Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali last month signalled a thaw in ties, although China’s trade sanctions remain in place.

The chairman of the Business Council of Australia’s international engagement committee, Mr Warwick Smith, said the business community welcomed Ms Wong’s trip, which is restricted to one venue because of Beijing’s Covid-19 outbreak.

“It is to celebrate 50 years of relations with China. The significance of it is that it’s a meeting not in a conference, but a physical meeting in Beijing,” he said.

Because of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, there would not be a business delegation travelling with Ms Wong and any such visit by business leaders was unlikely until March, said Mr Smith.

Two Australian writers, Cheng Lei and blogger Yang Hengjun, are detained in Beijing awaiting the outcome of national security trials.

“I would like to see my colleague Cheng Lei released and I would like to see a rollback more rapidly of these trade containments,” Mr Smith said.

Australian officials said no immediate breakthrough was expected on trade sanctions.

China remains the top buyer of Australia’s biggest export of iron ore and is seeking Canberra’s endorsement to join a trans-Pacific trade pact.

Australia has said moves to improve ties with Beijing would not bring a shift in defence policy. In a joint statement by defence ministers in Washington this month, the security allies said Australia and the United States would counter China’s “destabilising military activities”. REUTERS, AFP