Defence Minister Richard Marles will make his first visit to North Asia, after a “critical first step” exchange with his Chinese counterpart at the weekend
As business leaders including Treasury Wine Estate’s chief Tim Ford welcomed the break in the long-running diplomatic drought between Australia and China, the deputy prime minister said he would meet his Japanese defence counterpart, Nobuo Kishi, to affirm Australia’s commitment to a key security partnership, and to discuss challenges in the region.
Mr Marles described Sunday’s hour-long meeting with General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore as a “critical first step”. It was the first face-to-face meeting of its type between Canberra and Beijing since late-2019.The stand-off has included punitive tariffs and other restrictions on Australian exports to China, as well as regular barbs directed at Canberra from Beijing through its state media and diplomats.
The tariffs on Australian wine companies – including the one placed on Treasury Wines, which is set at a punishing 175.6 per cent – are scheduled to run for five years and were part of a broader economic coercion push resulting from Beijing’s increasing annoyance at Australia’s tough stance on geopolitics.
“Of course, there continue to be differences in the relationship and the trading embargoes, the absolutely unjustified trading embargoes are an obvious one that you’ve just mentioned.“Australia will always stand up for our human rights values, our national interests, and in these meetings, it is important to continue to talk about our interests and our values. But like I say, talking is always better than not talking. It gives us the opportunity to raise some of these issues.
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