Australia will urge China to end trade blockades on Friday as the two nations seek to unfreeze icy ties with their first foreign ministers’ meeting since 2019.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she wanted to “stabilize” ties when she met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi later in the day on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
“We all know we have our differences. There are challenges in the relationship. We believe commitment is necessary to stabilize the relationship,” Wong told reporters.
“We will not compromise when it comes to Australia’s interests,” she added.
The Australian minister said the first step in stabilizing ties is settling trade disputes between the two countries.
“We don’t think these blockades are in our interest,” she said. “We would tell China they are not in China’s interest.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor government, which came to power in May, has urged Beijing to drop its trade tariffs to improve ties.
China – Australia’s biggest trading partner – imposed tariffs and disrupted more than a dozen key industries including wine, barley and coal as ties soured over the past two years.
Canberra had angered Beijing by demanding an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and banning telecoms giant Huawei from helping build Australia’s 5G network.
Wong said both sides of Australian politics support a “one China” policy that recognizes Beijing, not Taipei, as the government of China.
China views the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan as part of its territory, which must one day be reclaimed, if necessary by force.
“We support the status quo and will work with others to urge that this would not be a unilateral change to that status quo,” Wong said.
Wong added that she will “diplomatically and directly” raise the cases of journalist Cheng Lei and democracy activist Yang Hengjun, Australian citizens detained in China.
#Australia #seeks #trade #disputes #meeting #China
