“We have some AU$20 billion of economic sanctions against Australia. That is not in Australia’s interest in terms of our jobs and the economy, but it’s also not in China’s interest,” Albanese said.
“Australia has world class products — in seafood, in meat, in wine, in other products that we export to China. It’s in China’s interest to receive those products, it’s in Australia’s interest to export them. So I’m very hopeful — we’ll continue to put our case that these sanctions are not justified, that they need to be removed,” Albanese added.
Asked what China wanted from Australia to improve relations, Albanese replied: “It’s not up to me to put forward their case.”
“What I want to see with the relationship with China is cooperation where we … maintain our Australian values where we must,” Albanese said.
Bilateral relations soured over issues including Australian demands for an independent inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, a ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei’s involvement in the Australian 5G networks on security grounds and recent laws that ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics.
China’s Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said in August that Beijing would discuss with Australia whether conditions were right in November for Albanese to meet Xi during the G-20 summit.
China’s People’s Daily English-language newspaper reported this week that “signs of resetting bilateral ties have emerged” since Albanese’s center-left Labor Party came to power in May.
The meeting would come as competition for influence among South Pacific island nations heightens between China and the United States, with its allies including Australia, since Beijing struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands early this year that has raised fears of a Chinese naval base being established in the region.
