The patient’s mission included business relationships, regional stability, and a jailed American author on the agenda of Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who met on Monday for the first time by a Chinese leading in seven years.
The browse by Li, China’s major- ranked standard after President Xi Jinping, marks a stabilisation in relations between the U. S. security ally and the world’s next- biggest economy, after a chilly period of Beijing blocking$ 20 billion in American exports and friction over defence encounters.
We applaud the stabilization and expansion of our diplomatic ties. In his opening remarks, Albanese stated that this speech has made it easier for us to become more aware of our individual interests.
He claimed that Australia and China had comparable economy and shared goals in terms of addressing climate change.
” We also have our differences … that’s why candid dialogue is so important. For Australia, we consistently advocate the importance of a region and world that is peaceful, stable and prosperous, where countries respect sovereignty and abide by international laws”, he said.
After the meeting, Li told reporters the leaders held a” candid, in- depth and fruitful meeting and reached a lot of consensus”.
We both agreed to maintain the appropriate character of our bilateral relationship and maintain its momentum while handling this relationship in a positive way,” he said.
He added that China would include Australia in its visa waiver program and that the two nations would expand their cooperation in mining and energy.
He said,” We both stressed the value of maintaining communication and coordination to jointly safeguard peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated earlier in a radio interview that Australia and the United States worked together to “ensure we have a safer and more stable region” through the QUAD partnership with Japan and India and the AUKUS defence agreement with Britain.
China has criticized the efforts to contain it by the QUAD and AUKUS.
As a ceremonial welcome for Li was held on the lawn outside Canberra’s parliament building, protesters and supporters gathered on Monday morning for a large police presence.
Barricades separated Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Kong and Falun Gong protesters from a large contingent of pro- China supporters.
Tibetan Tenzin Wougyal, 37, a Canberra resident, said he came to show Tibet’s culture, religion and language are at risk.
Australia should be cautious about what it is doing, he said.” Do n’t sacrifice human rights for short-term economic business.”
Tan Zhu, 50, said he travelled from Sydney to welcome Li, and was also at Canberra airport when he arrived.
” The relationship with Australia has improved significantly. That’s very positive”, he said.
Li is currently on a four-day visit to China, which the Chinese leader claimed showed bilateral relations were “back on track.” This includes some panda and wine diplomacy starting on Sunday.
Without China- which receives one- third of Australia’s exports and supplies one- fourth of Australia’s imports- Australians would pay 4.2 % more for consumer items, the Australia China Business Council said on Monday.
Trade between Australia and China reached A$ 327 billion ($ 215.95 billion ) last year as Beijing’s trade blocks eased.
China has been an investor in Australian mining projects, and Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China.
As Western security allies push to reduce reliance on Beijing for the rare earths that are essential to electric vehicles, Li’s visit will likely raise the question of whether Australia will continue to accept high levels of Chinese investment in its crucial minerals sector. On national interest grounds, Australia last month forbade several Chinese investors from acquiring stakes in a rare earths miner.
Albanese has stated in his discussions with Li that he would bring up human rights issues, including the case of China-born Australian author Yang Hengjun, whose Beijing court upheld his supporters ‘ claims.
They urged Albanese to request permission to transfer Yang to Australia on medical grounds, claiming in a statement that it was “unattainable to establish a stable, respectful bilateral relationship with China” while their leaders threatened to execute an Australian political prisoner.
