Australia's Albanese says it would be positive thing if meeting arranged with China's Xi
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Mr Xi Jinping is to attend the G-20 summit in Bali, but it is unclear if he will be at meetings that Mr Anthony Albanese (centre) will attend.
PHOTO: AFP
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SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping would be a positive development after years of strained relations between the two countries.
Mr Albanese is set to attend the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Bali
Mr Xi is also set to attend the G-20 summit, an adviser to the Indonesian president has previously said, but it is unclear if he will be at the other meetings in the region that Mr Albanese will attend.
“I’ve made it very clear that dialogue is a good thing, and if a meeting is arranged with Xi, then that would be a positive thing,” Mr Albanese told a news conference in Canberra. “We’re organising a range of meetings but they haven’t been finalised.”
Diplomatic ties between Australia and China have deteriorated sharply in recent years, with China imposing trade sanctions on some imports from Australia and reacting angrily to Canberra’s call for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
Canberra on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into reports that Australians were among Western military pilots who had been approached to help train the Chinese military.
The leaders of the two countries last met when Mr Albanese’s predecessor Scott Morrison met Mr Xi at the G-20 in 2019, according to Australia’s Foreign Ministry.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Australian counterpart Penny Wong during a call on Tuesday that the countries should address each other’s legitimate concerns and make contributions to address global challenges.
Both countries should work to rebuild trust and put their relationship back on the right track, a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Mr Wang as saying. REUTERS
