China's ambassador to Australia has said that ties between the two nations are at a “new juncture” and face “many opportunities”, while addressing the Australia China Friendship Society (ACFS) in Perth on Saturday. The transcript of the Chinese envoy’s remarks were published on the embassy’s website on Monday.
“Today’s world is witnessing great transformations unseen in a century. The international political and economic landscape is undergoing profound and complex changes”, Ambassador Xiao Qian remarked.
The Chinese diplomat recalled in his address that Beijing has been Canberra's “largest trading partner” for 13 consecutive years since 2009, in what he says has been an example of “win-win cooperation” for businesses in both nations.
Xiao further stated that Beijing has been looking at its ties with Australia from a “strategic and long-term perspective”, a policy he said “remains unchanged” over the last five decades.
The remarks by the Chinese diplomat were delivered a day before China's Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe on Sunday met his Australian counterpart Richard Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual global security summit held in Singapore.
Marles, who is also deputy prime minister of Australia, noted that the meeting was the first between the defence ministers of the two nations since 2019.
He said that the meeting was “hosted” by China.
At a press conference after the meeting, he described his encounter with General Wei as a “very frank and full exchange”.
“Australia and China's relationship is complex and it's precisely because of this complexity that it is really important that we are engaging in dialogue right now”, Marles stated, further calling the meeting a “critical first step” in normalising ties between the two Asia-Pacific nations.
In an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA) on Monday, Marles said ties between Beijing and Canberra have been “very important in terms of both the economic success of China and the economic success of Australia”.
“…that doesn't come at the expense of Australia standing up for its national interests and articulating what's important for us as a nation”, Marles added, however.
“But as I said, we do intend to engage with our relations in the world in a professional, sober way, where we understand the power of diplomacy and dialogue and where we engage with mutual respect”, he said.
Bilateral ties between Canberra and Beijing have been frayed since previous Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent probe into the origins of COVID-19 in 2020, prompting China to levy retaliatory tariffs on imports from Australia of barley, wine, and coal.
Ties between the two free trade partners soured further after Australia announced its plan to develop nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) with American and British technology under the AUKUS pact, unveiled last September. Beijing has accused the US-led pact of “inciting” an arms race in the region.
Then, the Sino-Solomon Islands security cooperation pact unveiled in April stoked fears about a potential Chinese military base in the Pacific nation.
Beijing has on several occasions denied that it intends to build a military base in the region, and even proposed joint projects involving Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific region.