Australia’s Foreign Minister to visit Beijing for the first time in four years

Dec. 19 () –

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit China for the first time in four years, in a sign of rapprochement between the two countries on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Wong will meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for the sixth Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, which was last held in 2018.

“Australia seeks a stable relationship with China; we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and participate in the national interest,” Wong said in a statement with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Thus, the ‘premier’ highlighted the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. “In 1972, the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam made a bold decision in recognizing the importance of compromise and cooperation between our two nations and peoples,” he explained.

“In the decades since, China has grown to become one of the world’s largest economies and Australia’s largest trading partner. Australia-China trade, as well as strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people ties have provided significant benefits to both countries,” reads the letter published by his office.

The last time an Australian minister traveled to China was when the then Trade Minister, Simon Birmingham, visited the Asian giant in November 2019, reports ABC.

Since Labour’s victory in the federal elections in May, the lines of communication between Canberra and Beijing have been reopened. Albanese met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, the first meeting between the two leaders since 2016.