Australian Foreign Minister Anthony Wong (right) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a bilateral meeting in Canberra on March 20, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Australia to hold talks with Australian officials on bilateral and international issues. (Photo by David Gray/AFP) (Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
David Gray | AFP | Getty Images
After meeting Chinese Prime Minister Wang Yi in Canberra, Foreign Minister Wong Ying-xian said Australia would prepare for a visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang this year, saying the talks covered human rights, tariffs, defense and regional security.
Australia and China, its biggest trading partner, are rebuilding ties after a tense period. Relations hit a low in 2020 after Canberra called for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
Beijing responded by imposing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Australian imports, most of which have been lifted since Canberra’s change of government two years ago.
“I look forward to speaking candidly with you about Australians detained in China, human rights, maritime safety and security, and regional and international issues such as the Pacific, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East,” she said in her opening speech.
“Dialogue allows us to manage our differences. We all know that does not eliminate our differences. Australia will always be Australia and China will always be China.”
After the meeting, Huang told Chinese and Australian reporters that the two countries would work hard to prepare for Li Keqiang’s visit, stressing the importance of face-to-face diplomacy to better understand each other.
Huang said Australia and China would expand dialogue on the Pacific and climate and energy cooperation.
“I expressed our serious concerns about unsafe conduct at sea and our desire for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and in the region,” she said, referring to friction with the Chinese navy in the South China Sea.
While Beijing has made an interim decision to lift Chinese tariffs on Australian wine – one of the goods affected by import tariffs after 2020 – Huang said Australia also hopes to lift tariffs on beef and lobster, and they also Volatility in the nickel market is discussed.
Huang said she raised the case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who was sentenced to a suspended death sentence by a Beijing court last month, telling her Australians were shocked by the verdict.
Huang said the two giant pandas on loan from China since 2009 are likely to return this year, another sign that diplomacy is back on track, and their stay in her hometown of Adelaide may be extended.
“We are moving in a good direction to continue the panda’s existence,” she told reporters after the meeting.
“Mutual respect, common ground”
According to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi expressed the hope that Australia will take substantive measures, adhere to the principles of market economy, and provide a non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese-funded enterprises in Australia. Canberra scrutinizes foreign investment in areas critical to national security, including critical minerals, and has blocked some Chinese deals.
He stressed the need for independence, a possible reference to China’s view that Australia’s foreign policy is dominated by Canberra’s strategic alliance with the United States, and said China-Australia relations were on the right track and should not go backwards.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Australian Foreign Minister Huang Yingxuan are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on March 20, 2024, with Chinese and Australian flags hanging on the table. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began a whirlwind visit to Australia on March 20, with his rare visit marking a thaw in relations between the two trading partners. (Photo: David Gray/AFP) (Photo: David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
David Gray | AFP | Getty Images
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ first Chinese-language statement mentioned Australia’s need to implement an independent foreign policy, but this did not appear in the longer version later released.
“The most fundamental thing is to insist on mutual respect, the most critical thing is to insist on seeking common ground while reserving differences, the most important thing is to insist on mutual benefit and win-win results, and the most valuable thing is to insist on independence and autonomy,” he said, according to a transcript.
The last time a Chinese foreign minister visited Australia was in 2017. Wang Yi’s visit marked a thaw in diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Wang Yi will also hold talks with Prime Minister Antoni Albanez and hold private meetings with 11 representatives of businesses, universities and think tanks. He will meet on Thursday with former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, a prominent supporter of China who criticized Australia’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United States.
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