MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Australia patching up relations with China. Aussie foreign minister in Beijing

Ms Wong is the first Australian minister to visit China since 2019 and is leading Canberra's first formal talks in Beijing since 2018.

After years of strained relations, Australia and China have given the first steps to normalization with the visit of Aussie Foreign Minister Penny Wong to Beijing. Ms Wong is the first Australian minister to visit China since 2019 and is leading Canberra's first formal talks in Beijing since 2018.

Wednesday most probably was chosen since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two counties and President Xi Jinping exchanged greetings with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Australia relations and am willing to work with the Australian side,” Xi said in a telegram, Chinese state media reported.

From Beijing Minister Wang in a conciliatory tone said “We can grow our bilateral relationship and uphold both our national interests if both countries navigate our differences wisely.”

China is Australia's largest export market. But China moved to ban coal, beef and other key exports from Australia in 2020 after the Australian government at the time pushed for an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

Ties had already been strained since Australia banned Chinese telecommunications from Huawei from building the country's 5G network in 2018 — making it the first country to do so.

However, the election of Labor leader Albanese in May 2022 was seen by some as a potential turning point after years of strained relations. Xi and Albanese first spoke on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, in November.

“It is important that we deliver better relations with our major trading partner in the future,” the Australian prime minister said at a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday.

However a bipartisan group of Australian lawmakers are scheduled to visit Taiwan next week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday. But Albanese also pointed out that the “backbench” delegation visiting Taiwan was not a “government visit.” The prime minister added that he would not be joining the five-day tour, which begins on Sunday.

China frequently bristles at Western countries sending delegations to Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing considers to be its territory. The visit also comes as Albanese's administration tries to patch up relations with China which soured in recent years.

Last Saturday, Albanese reiterated Australia's bipartisan support of the “one-China” policy, which holds that Beijing is China's only legitimate government. “There remains a bipartisan position when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan,” Albanese told reporters.