Chinese Premier Li Qiang says ties with Australia are back on track
Meeting with Prime Minister Albanese in Canberra comes as economic ties warm
SYDNEY -- Relations between China and Australia, strained by years of acrimony, are "on the right track," Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Monday during an appearance with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who emphasized "renewed and revitalized" engagement between the two countries.
Li, President Xi Jinping's second-in-command, is in Australia for a four-day trip that marks the first by a Chinese premier since his predecessor Li Keqiang's visit seven years ago.
The trip follows a yearslong effort to "stabilize" the relationship, which nosedived under Australia's previous government and still faces pressure amid increasing geopolitical tension in the region between China and Western nations.
Li, who also visited New Zealand, began his journey to Australia in Adelaide, where he met with winemakers and promised to deliver two new pandas to the city's zoo. He said the meeting in Canberra was "candid, in-depth and fruitful" and led to agreements on trade, education, climate change and intellectual property.
He also said the countries agreed to reciprocal five-year multiple entry visas for tourism, business and visiting family members and that China would include Australia in its visa waiver program.
"This relationship is on the right track of steady improvement and development," said Li.
Albanese said dialogue was "crucial" to "make progress on our shared interests and protect regional stability." The countries should work toward a rules-based region in which "no country dominates and no country is dominated," he said.
"We will cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in the national interest," Albanese continued.
Both men made statements but took no questions from reporters at their joint event.
China in 2020 hit Australia with $20 billion Australian dollars ($13.2 billion) worth of trade restrictions after taking umbrage with former prime minister Scott Morrison's call for an independent probe into the origins of COVID-19.
Most of those barriers, including high tariffs on Australian wine and barley, as well as restrictions on timber, coal and copper, have been removed in recent months, although curbs on rock lobster exports and two beef exporters remain.
Australian Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt told Australia's national broadcaster ABC on Monday that the countries were yet to reach a deal on the remaining restrictions.
"We're certainly hopeful that as a result of this meeting, and the dialogue will be able to occur, that we'll make further progress and have some news about that before too long," he said.
While economic ties have been gradually repaired, regional geopolitical tensions have simmered. Australia in May accused China's military of behavior that threatened the safety of an Australian navy helicopter.
Albanese later told reporters that the pair had discussed improving military-to-military communication to "avoid incidents."
"Officials will go away and will have that discussion about how that can be implemented in practice," he said.
Albanese said he had also raised the issue of human rights, including the case of Australian academic Yang Hengjun, who earlier this year was handed a suspended death sentence in China after being secretly tried for espionage.
Yang's friend and Ph.D supervisor Feng Chongyi was among protesters that gathered outside Australia's Parliament House, where pro-Beijing groups scuffled with demonstrators that included members of Australia's Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur, and Chinese diaspora communities.
Feng condemned China's human rights record and criticized Australia's current approach.
"It is morally indefensible for the Australian government to normalize relations with China when its innocent citizens are wrongly sentenced to death for ... advocacy of Australian values like human rights and democracy," Feng told Nikkei Asia.
Li will travel to the western city of Perth for meetings on Tuesday with Australia's business community.