Penny Wong will raise the removal of conflict prevention, human rights and the detention of Yang Hengjun when she hosts China’s foreign minister next week.
Already a subscriber?Foreign Minister Penny Wong will press her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to remove Beijing’s remaining trade sanctions on Australian exports and the need to prevent conflict in the region when she hosts him in Canberra on Wednesday next week.
, Senator Wong confirmed she would host Mr Wang for the Seventh Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, during an ASEAN summit in Jakarta this month.Senator Wong is also expected to raise human rights and protest the jailing of Chinese-Australian pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun in her meeting with Mr Wang. It will be the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Australia since Mr Wang’s 2017 trip. The dialogue was last held in Beijing in December 2022 during“Dialogue is central to a constructive relationship with China and to supporting regional peace and stability,” Senator Wong said.“Australia’s approach is consistent; we seek to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest. “It’s Australia’s view that a stable bilateral relationship would enable both countries to pursue respective national interests, if we navigate our differences wisely.” Amid growing tensions in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China, as well as risk of conflict with the US over Taiwan, Senator Wong used a speech on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Melbourne last week to step up calls for “preventative architecture” to avoid war.China’s Commerce Ministry issued a draft determination on Tuesday night indicating it would remove tariffs of up to 220 per cent on Australian wine. The tariffs are expected to be abolished by the end of the month. The tariffs, imposed by Beijing as part of a campaign against Australian exporters as bilateral ties soured, had crippled an industry that had been worth $1.1 billion in annual sales.Beef from eight abattoirs and lobsters remain the only commodities still affected by China’s trade sanctions. However, efforts to stabilise ties between Beijing and Canberra suffered a setback in February when Dr Yang was handedSenator Wong described the sentence as “appalling” and vowed to push for more lenient treatment for Dr Yang, whose health is ailing, according to family members. Asked about the looming end of wine tariffs, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday night that China and Australia had engaged in dialogue and consultation for some time to address each other’s concerns and improve bilateral relations. “China stands ready to continue stepping up dialogue and cooperation with Australia under the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and seeking common ground while shelving differences, so as to promote the steady and sound growth of China-Australia relations,” he said.Connect with Andrew on
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