”This week marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China,” Wong wrote in a joint statement with Albanese.
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“In 1972,then-prime minister Gough Whitlam took a bold decision,recognising the importance of engagement and co-operation between our two nations and peoples.
“In the decades since,China has grown to become one of the world’s largest economies and Australia’s largest trading partner.
“Trade between Australia and China,as well as strong people-to-people,cultural and business links have delivered significant benefits to both our countries.”
The Beijing encounter will be Wong’s third meeting with Wang since Labor’s election victory,following previous meetings in Bali and New York.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said:“It was always counterproductive for the Chinese Government to cease ministerial dialogue for a period of time and the resumption of face-to-face dialogue has been welcome.”
Noting Wong would be the first Australian minister to travel to China since he represented Australia as trade minister in 2019,Birmingham said:“The test of these talks will be whether trade sanctions are lifted,progress is made for the release of detained Australians and improvements in the security and cyber context that we face.
“The test indeed is also that Minister Wong needs to be sure that she is raising important issues of principle around respect for international laws in our region,respect for human rights and urging China to use influence they have for Russia to bring to an end the unfounded,illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.”
Allan Behm,director of the international and security affairs program at the Australia Institute think tank,said:“This is a really important and significant trip.”
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Behm,a former adviser to Wong,said he did not expect the trip to result in instant policy breakthroughs but believed it would lay the foundation for a return to more normal relations between China and Australia.
Human Rights Asia director Elaine Pearson called for Wong to put human rights at the centre of the trip,saying:“Wong is no doubt under pressure from the Chinese government to downplay human rights in this first high-level visit for years — a standard to which Beijing will try to hold other democracies.”
Wong in her statement said:“Australia seeks a stable relationship with China;we will co-operate where we can,disagree where we must and engage in the national interest.”