Australia seeks to resolve China trade woes as foreign minister heads to Beijing

SYDNEY  -Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday she will push China to lift trade sanctions, but tempered expectations of any immediate breakthrough ahead of a meeting with her Chinese counterpart as Canberra looks to mend strained diplomatic ties.

Wong is expected to meet Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, the first visit by an Australian minister since 2019 and the first formal talks in Beijing between the two nations’ top diplomats since 2018.

“Many of the hard issues in the relationship will take time to resolve in our interests,” Wong said during a media briefing in Canberra before leaving for China. “This will take time, but I do see this visit as another step in the road.”

Relations between Australia and top trade partner China had been at a low ebb after Canberra banned Huawei Technologies from its 5G broadband network in 2018 and called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Beijing responded with tariffs on several Australian commodities.

The Labor government, which in May returned to power after nine years, has been seeking to repair relations.

A meeting between Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali last month signalled a thaw in ties, although China’s trade sanctions remain in place.

Wong will attend the sixth Australia–China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue in Beijing, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Wong said she would continue to press for consular access for Australian journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun, who are detained in China and awaiting sentences after closed-door national security trials.

She hoped the restart of official talks would “stabilise” the relationship between China and Australia.

“Dialogue is where some of the difficult issues and they are difficult issues – different interests, different views – have to be resolved and have to be dealt with, and dialogue is an essential prerequisite for that,” Wong said.