Australia’s international minister Penny Wong will go to China this week, elevating expectations of a deepening thaw in relations between Canberra and Beijing that would restore one of many area’s most vital buying and selling relationships.
Wong has accepted an invite from her counterpart Wang Yi to take part within the sixth Australia-China International and Strategic Dialogue. The final spherical of talks occurred in 2018 previous to a transfer by China to impose punitive sanctions on chosen Australian imports together with superb wine, lobsters and coal.
The federal government has estimated the sanctions have value the financial system A$20bn (US$13.6bn), however that has been offset by rising commodity costs and a diversification of Australia’s export markets.
The assembly between Wong and Wang will coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the institution of diplomatic relations between Australia and China beneath the previous Labor authorities of Gough Whitlam.
Wong’s go to, the primary by an Australian minister in virtually three years, can have symbolic significance after months of debate about whether or not the anniversary could be commemorated. The commerce sanctions, mixed with geopolitical tensions, preceded a call by Australia final yr to kind a safety and technological alliance with the US and the UK often known as Aukus.
China imposed the sanctions about two years in the past following a name by former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19. This elevated tensions that had been constructing since Australia banned tools from Chinese language telecom group Huawei from being utilized in its 5G networks.
Wong and Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister who was elected in Might, have labored to ease tensions with China whereas sustaining a agency line on points together with the commerce dispute and calls to launch Australian residents Cheng Lei, a information anchor, and Yang Hengjun, a author, who’re being detained within the nation.
Albanese met China’s president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 convention in Bali final month within the first bilateral assembly between leaders of the 2 international locations since 2016. That was preceded by a gathering between Wong and Yi in September in New York.
“Australia seeks a steady relationship with China; we are going to co-operate the place we will, disagree the place we should and have interaction within the nationwide curiosity,” Albanese and Wong mentioned in a joint assertion issued on Monday.
David Uren, senior fellow on the Australian Strategic Coverage Institute, famous that China appeared to wish to pursue higher relations after three years of stress.
“The truth that China has invited Penny Wong is a really heat sign,” he mentioned. He mentioned China may ease a few of the import sanctions, corresponding to on coal, however Albanese’s authorities would proceed to strengthen the Aukus settlement and forge forward with its so-called Quad alliance with the US, India and Japan. “China must be lifelike about that,” he mentioned.
The go to has raised hopes amongst Australian companies that sanctions may very well be lifted. The Enterprise Council of Australia is within the early levels of making ready for a commerce delegation to China ought to the Wong go to result in an additional easing of tensions. Corporations with publicity to the nation — corresponding to airline Qantas and miners BHP and Rio Tinto — might go to if the Chinese language authorities invited the delegation and the journey was authorised by the Australian authorities.
