Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing calls to return from China with something of tangible benefit to the nation, as he becomes the first Australian leader to visit the country since 2016.
Key points:
- Mr Albanese is travelling to China, the first trip for an Australian leader in seven years
- He believes it to be proof Australia-China ties are ‘steadily improving’
- Trade talks are high on the agenda for both countries
The PM is leaving Darwin bound for Shanghai and Beijing on Saturday afternoon, heralding his invite from Chinese President Xi Jinping as evidence the relationship between the two nations is steadily improving.
“The visit in itself is a very positive thing,” he told reporters before boarding his RAAF jet.
“It’s a result of the patient, calibrated and deliberate approach that we have to the relationship with China.
“And the fact that it’s the first visit in seven years to our major trading partner is a very positive step.”
Top of the agenda will be lobbying Beijing to drop crippling trade tariffs on Australian wine, following the approach taken on other Australian exports such as barley and coal.
Last month the Chinese government announced it would review the tariffs of 220 per cent, which had slashed the yearly value of Australian wine exports to China from $1.2 billion to $8 million.
The ongoing detention of Australian writer Yang Hengjun will also feature in discussions, following a heartfelt plea from his family for the prime minister to use the visit to China to secure his release from jail.
“I’ll be speaking about his human rights, the nature of his detention and the failure to have transparent processes,” Mr Albanese said.
A couple of weeks ago, Australian journalist Cheng Lei returned home after three years languishing in a Beijing jail.
The development fuelled hope from Dr Yang’s family that a “second miracle” could be delivered by the Australian government.
A different approach from past governments
While welcoming the prime minister’s trip to China, the federal Opposition said the success of the visit would be marked by what Mr Albanese manages to achieve during discussions with President Xi.
“It is a very important trip, it’s a significant trip, it is welcome that it’s happening, but it needs to be one of strength and substance ahead of symbolism or ceremony,” Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham said.
The last Australian prime minister to visit China was Malcolm Turnbull in 2016, and the relationship between the two nations soured in the years following.
Beijing hit back at the Turnbull government’s decision to block Chinese telco Huawei from any role in the development of the nation’s 5G mobile network on national security grounds, and at Scott Morrison’s calls for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
Towards the end of the Morrison government, Chinese ministers were refusing to even pick up the phone and talk to their Australian counterparts.
“Let’s understand that the Coalition took a series of very important decisions in Australia’s interests, which have not been reversed by this government,” Senator Birmingham said.
“China overreacted to those steps, and it overreacted in ways that ceased having dialogue or discussions, and that sought to demand Australia should change its policy settings.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Mr Albanese’s trip, 50 years after prime minister Gough Whitlam became the first Australian leader to visit China, was of “great significance in carrying forward the past and opening up the future.”
“China is willing to work with Australia to take this visit as an opportunity to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, expand cooperation, deepen friendship and promote the continued improvement and development of bilateral relations in the spirit of mutual respect, mutual benefit and seeking common ground while reserving differences.”
More trade talks underway
While the prime minister pushes China to lift trade sanctions on Australian exports, it is likely the Chinese president will use their meeting to encourage the Albanese government to let China join the world’s largest trade deal – the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Senator Birmingham argued that would not be a wise move.
“We should be very clear China has not acted in good faith towards Australia when it comes to trade in recent years,” he told reporters in Adelaide.
“They have acted in breach of their World Trade Organization obligations and in breach of their free trade agreement obligations with Australia.
“And given that bad faith we have seen, we should be clear that we would not be in a position for the foreseeable future to support China joining the CPTPP.”
Mr Albanese will attend a trade summit in Shanghai on Sunday, before heading to Beijing.
He will meet with President Xi Jinping on Monday.