Chinese PM agrees with Australia to ‘properly manage’ disputes

A gun salute as Chinese Premier Li Qiang inspects a guard of honor outside Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, June 17, 2024. Li, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior ministers from both administrations met on Monday in Parliament to discuss thorny issues including persistent trade barriers, conflicts between their militaries in international waters and China’s desire to invest in critical minerals. (Lukas Coch/Pool photo via AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Monday he agreed with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to properly manage differences between their nations as they emerge from a hostile era in which contacts between ministers were prohibited and trade barriers were costly. Australian exporters can reach A$20 billion ($13 billion) a year.

Li, Albanese and senior ministers from both administrations met in Parliament to discuss thorny issues, including persistent trade barriers, conflicts between their militaries in international waters and China’s desire to invest in key minerals.

Li, China’s most senior leader after President Xi Jinping, arrived in the South Australian state capital Adelaide on Saturday and in the national capital of Canberra on Sunday evening, in the first visit to the country a Chinese Prime Minister in seven years.

Li told reporters after Monday’s meeting that bilateral relations were “on the right track of constant improvement and development.”

“We… had a frank exchange of views on some differences and disagreements and agreed to properly handle them in a way that suits our overall strategic partnership,” Li said through an interpreter.

Albanese, who in November last year became the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016, described the discussions as “constructive”.

“Australia advocates that we all work together to promote a regional balance where no country dominates and no country is dominated,” Albanese said.

“I have made it clear that as nations with different histories, political systems and values, we will cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in “national interest,” added the Australian leader.

Their relationship has improved markedly since Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022 after nine years of conservative government in Australia.

Most of the official and unofficial trade barriers introduced by Beijing in 2020 on coal, cotton, wine, barley and timber have been lifted since Albanese’s election.

Beijing had banned contacts between ministers, which diplomatically froze the previous Australian government.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said before the meeting he would raise the issue of China’s ban on Australian rock lobsters and on exports from two beef processing plants.

“Just the fact that we have the first visit from a Chinese prime minister, the second most powerful person in China, … since 2017, is a huge opportunity to continue this dialogue, to continue to stabilize our relations and resolve some of the outstanding issues. »Watt said.

Li was served lobster at a business lunch with winemakers on Sunday and wagyu beef at a state lunch on Monday, media reported.

Li planned to highlight China’s interest in acquiring a larger stake in Australia’s critical minerals sector, key to the global transition to renewable energy sources, by visiting a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant on Tuesday in the State of Western Australia.

Li traveled to New Zealand before Australia and is expected to stop in Malaysia on Tuesday evening before returning to China.

Australia shares US concerns about China’s global dominance in essential minerals and its control over supply chains in the renewable energy sector.

Citing Australia’s national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five China-linked companies to divest their shares in rare earth mining company Northern Minerals.

Watt said Chinese investment was not prohibited in the sector, but must meet national security criteria.

Albanese later told Li at a state luncheon: “We will not always agree, and the points on which we disagree will not simply disappear if we leave them unspoken.” »

This appears to be a response to a statement by Li, released by the Chinese embassy in Canberra on Sunday, which said he recommended “putting aside differences” between the two countries in the interest of strengthening relations.

Albanese confirmed that he had discussed with Li recent clashes between the two countries’ armies in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea which Australia said was putting Australian personnel at risk.

Chinese and Australian officials agreed at the meeting to discuss improving military-to-military communications to avoid unintended incidents, Albanese said.

Relations deteriorated over Australian legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from the rollout of the national 5G network due to security concerns, and the call of Australia to an independent investigation into the causes and responses to this situation. Covid-19 pandemic.

Benjamin Herscovitch, a China expert at the Australian National University, said he did not expect China to get firm commitments from Australia during Li’s visit.

The two countries signed several cooperation agreements on Monday in the areas of trade, education, climate change, culture and intellectual property.

Beijing wants to remove Australian opposition to China joining a trade bloc known as CPTPP, more investment in Australian critical minerals and ambitious new science and technology cooperation deals , Herscovitch said.

But Australia has already made a concession to China by rebuilding its relationship through its inaction in not imposing sanctions on Chinese entities supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, he said.

“Australia is essentially giving China carte blanche on this issue,” Herscovitch said, while Australia’s allies, including the United States, Britain and the European Union, imposed sanctions.

Hundreds of pro-China protesters, human rights activists and democracy advocates lined the routes of Li’s cavalcades in Adelaide and Canberra.