China congratulates new Aussie leader in hint at thawing relations

BEIJING/TOKYO • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has sent a congratulatory note to Australia's newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Beijing's state media reported, ending a year-long freeze in diplomatic contact between the two countries.

China cut off diplomatic and trade channels with Australia in a largely symbolic act of fury in May last year, following clashes over issues including human rights, the origins of Covid-19 and espionage.

"The Chinese side is ready to work with the Australian side to review the past, look to the future... to promote the sound and steady growth of their comprehensive strategic partnership," Mr Li said, according to Xinhua news agency late on Monday.

Tensions between the countries soared in the past two years after Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and banned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from building the country's 5G network.

China, Australia's biggest trading partner, responded by imposing tariffs or disrupting more than a dozen key industries, including wine, barley and coal.

Mr Li's message came ahead of Mr Albanese's meeting yesterday with leaders of Japan, India and the United States in Tokyo for a Quad summit - an informal grouping of the four countries seen as an effort to counter China.

Mr Albanese confirmed he had received a letter of congratulations from Mr Li, but he also rebuked China for imposing hefty tariffs on Australian exports.

"We will respond appropriately in time, when I return to Australia," Mr Albanese told journalists in Tokyo.

"It's China that has applied sanctions on Australia. There is no justification for doing that. And that's why they should be removed."

In his first foreign policy address on Monday, Mr Albanese said the relationship with Beijing would "remain a difficult one".

"It is China that has changed, not Australia, and Australia should always stand up for our values," the 59-year-old centre-left Labor Party leader said.

The stance that Mr Albanese adopts at the Quad summit could be closely watched by China, which regards the informal security grouping as an attempt to counter its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Labor's deputy leader Richard Marles - who is acting as premier while Mr Albanese is away - said yesterday that it will be a "challenging pathway forward" between China and Australia.

"From an Australian point of view, we understand the complexity of the relationship. It is our largest trading partner but China is seeking to shape the world around it in ways we have not seen before," Mr Marles said. "We are certainly going to be navigating that pathway from the point of view of making sure Australia's national interest is absolutely clear."

Canberra has expressed concerns about Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific region, including a recent security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands. A leaked draft of the agreement that has not been made public includes a section that would allow Chinese naval deployments to the Solomons - less than 2,000km from Australia.

China bristled when Australia last year joined a hotly contested programme to equip its navy with nuclear-powered submarines in a new defence alliance with the United Kingdom and the US. The Aukus alliance is aimed at confronting strategic tensions in the Pacific where the China-US rivalry is growing.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE