[ad_1]
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the first step towards resolving simmering tensions between two feuding nations.
The two leaders held private talks in Bali on Tuesday afternoon as the G20 Summit kicked off.
The bilateral meeting marked a significant moment for the relationship between the two nations which has deteriorated in the last two years and cost Australia at least $20billion.
It was the first one-on-one meeting between the leaders of the two countries in six years and lasted just 32 minutes, compared to President Xi’s three hour sit-down with US counterpart Joe Biden.
Mr Albanese and exchanged warm smiles as they shook hands in front of the cameras and posed for photos.
Afterwards, Mr Albanese described their bilateral meeting was a positive discussion and repeatedly stressed to reporters talks were constructive.
‘We have big differences to manage, but we’re always going to be better off when we have dialogue and are able to constructively and respectively,’ he said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands for the cameras following a 32 minute private meeting

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Anthony Albanese sat on opposite sides of the room during the G20 Summit before holding private talks
‘One of the things that struck me was that both of us spoke about how we have highly complementary economies. It is clearly in Australia’s interest to export some of the foreign products that we have, it’s in China’s interest to receive those foreign products.’
President Xi is reported to have said he was glad to meet Mr Albanese and that previously warm ties between the two countries were ‘worth cherishing.’
‘We should improve, maintain and develop our relationship, as it is consistent with the fundamental interests of both countries’ people,’ he said.
The meeting covered a wide range of topics from China’s trade tariffs on Australian exports and climate change to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, human rights issues and several Australians currently detained in China.
‘I put forward Australia’s position when it comes to the blockages in our trading relationship, I put toward the differences that we have on human rights issues including Xinjiang,’ he said.
‘I put forward specifically as well the cases of Cheng Lei and Dr Jung.
‘I also put forward Jung and I also put forward our position on Ukraine and asked that China exercise its influence on Russia specifically about Russia’s threats to use tactical nuclear weapons.’
Earlier, Mr Albanese acknowledged the nations have had their differences and told Mr Xi the Australia-China relationship was an important one.
‘We need to work towards a stable, prosperous and peaceful Indo-Pacific and an international system that is governed by international law,’ he said.
‘We have had our differences … but our bilateral relationship is an important one. Both sides have worked to stabilise the relationship based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.
‘I look forward to constructive exchange and dialogue today.’
Malcolm Turnbull was the last Australian prime minister to have a formal meeting with Mr Xi in 2016.
Since then, increasing tensions over security arrangements and trade sanctions worth $20 billion have seen relations deteriorate.
But Mr Albanese, who set no preconditions for the formal talk, considered securing the meeting a success in itself.

The meeting between Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping was the first time in six years leaders from Australia and China have met
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is keen for the two-day summit to deliver outcomes, as the world grapples with rising inflation, climate change and the effects of the pandemic.
He called for unity and said collaboration was ‘badly needed’ to save the world.
Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers said while the meeting was a welcome opportunity, it would not immediately fix the fractured relationship between the two countries or result in the removal of trade sanctions worth $20 billion.
‘I don’t think anybody pretends that some of the issues China has raised, certainly some of the issues that we have raised, will be solved overnight,’ he told ABC radio.
‘We give ourselves a much better chance where there’s engagement and dialogue, and there will be today.’
Dr Chalmers said the government remained deeply concerned over the detention of two Australians, including journalist Cheng Lei, who has been in custody for more than two years and denied contact with her family.
While Mr Albanese would not reveal what he planned to discuss with the Chinese president, he considered it a success that a meeting was taking place.
‘For six years we have not had any dialogue and it is not in Australia’s interest to not have dialogue with our major trading partners,’ the prime minister said on Monday.
‘We will have a constructive dialogue. I will put Australia’s position on a range of issues and, of course, Australia’s positions on most of those is very well known.’

Anthony Albanese (left) described his talks with the Chinese President (right) as a positive and constructive discussion

Australian Prime minister Anthony Albanese enjoyed a laugh with British Rishi Sunak counterpart at the G20 Summit in Bali
The head of Australia’s peak business group, in Bali for a meeting of industry groups, described the meeting as a ‘tremendous reset’ with China.
‘We’ve obviously had a set of difficulties in the relationship but you can’t fix those if you don’t have a dialogue,’ Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott said.
‘This creates an opportunity for businesses to come in behind that reset the prime minister has done and start building relationships.’
Australia’s relationship with its largest trading partner has been on the rocks since April 2020 when then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for an independent inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic – which first appeared in Wuhan at the end of 2019.
The Communist superpower retaliated by imposing arbitrary bans and tariffs on $20billion worth of Australian goods including barley, wine, cotton, seafood, beef, copper, and coal.
But Beijing’s attempt at economic bullying largely backfired, driving up the price of coal soaring partially triggering widespread blackouts across China.
Australia doubled-down on its criticism of the communist superpower in the months and years that followed condemning China for its appalling human rights record.

Anthony Albanese (pictured) attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali on Tuesday ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Canberra and the UN have admonished Beijing for eroding democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, as well as the brutal repression of Tibetans and Uyghur Muslims.
China, through its ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomats and state-run media, continued to slam the Morrison government.
In one of the most ugly incidents, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao in November 2020 posted a fake image on Twitter showing a smiling Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child.
It came in the wake of accusations of war crimes against elite Australian troops between 2009 and 2016.
The Australian government demanded an apology but it never came.
The Chinese Embassy in Canberra followed it up with a bizarre list of 14 grievances it demanded Australia capitulate to if it wanted the trade ban to end.
The dossier included everything from unfavourable media coverage, banning Chinese firm Huawei from the national 5G rollout in 2018 over security concerns and calling out Beijing for cyber attacks.
Mr Albanese said he was looking forward to the ‘constructive’ talks with the Chinese president.
‘We enter this discussion with goodwill. There are no preconditions on this discussion,’ he said on arrival in Bali for the G20 summit.
‘Australia will put forward our own position.’
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China was ready to meet Australia ‘halfway’ after he held informal talks with Mr Albanese at a dinner on the weekend.
He prefaced his comments saying the two nations had enjoyed a ‘traditional friendship’ but acknowledged that relations had gone through a ‘difficult patch’.
‘Taking office as the prime minister of the new Labor government, you expressed Australia’s readiness to work with China to bring the bilateral relationship back on track,’ Mr Li said.
‘China is ready to meet Australia halfway, and work with Australia to seize the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations to promote sustained, sound and steady growth of China-Australia relations.’
Mr Albanese will also hold bilateral talks with with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who spoke with Mr Albanese at a dinner on the weekend said China was ready to meet Australia ‘halfway’
[ad_2]
Source link