‘We have our differences’: Penny Wong meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for first time

Penny Wong has taken a step to thaw relations with Beijing in a historic meeting with her Chinese counterpart.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken out about her first face-to-face meeting with her Chinese counterpart.

Senator Wong met China’s State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali on Friday.

In the first meeting of Australian and Chinese foreign ministers in almost three years, Senator Wong said the pair “spoke frankly and listened carefully” to each other's concerns as they worked towards a bilateral relationship.

“We do have our differences, we do have our differences,” she said.

Australia's Minister for For Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, with the members of the MIKTA grouping in Bali. Picture: Supplied

“I don’t intend to give a blow-by-blow account of the meeting for obvious reasons, but I think it’s a fair summation to say we both recognised it’s a first step for both our nations.”

“Obviously we discussed trade blockages that exist, and that remains the government’s position, those trade blockages should be removed and we have said so publicly and our private position reflects that.”

On Friday, Senator Wong said there would be a frank discussion of a variety of concerns, with hopes the discussion will help stabilise the relationship between Beijing and Canberra.

“You would anticipate there will be a number of issues raised, and we will do so diplomatically and directly and rather than projecting everything,” Senator Wong said in Bali.

“We won’t be making any concessions when it comes to Australia’s national interests.”

China’s allyship with Russia amid their ongoing war in Ukraine is likely to be raised during the meeting, which comes as Beijing has cautioned the West not to compare Putin’s war with China’s tense relationship with Taiwan – as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done.

Senator Wong said China had a role to play in not disturbing the status quo, as it has threatened to do.

“Our position in relation to Russia and Ukraine is Russia’s actions constitute an aggregation of the UN Charter and international law and the key principle that has enabled international peace and security for decades … which is another state will not – by threat or force – infringe upon the territorial integrity of another,” she said.

“On the case of Taiwan, there is bipartisan support on the One-China policy. There is bipartisan position now that we support the status quo, and we work with others to urge that there be no unilateral change to that status quo.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali on Friday. Picture: Johannes P. Christo / AFP

Senator Wong is expected to outline – again – why Beijing should stand down from its trade tariffs.

“They’re not in China’s interest,” she said.

Senator Wong said on Thursday that any diplomatic improvements between Canberra and Beijing would require China to scrap its “coercive” trade sanctions.

The last time the two respective foreign ministers were face-to-face was at the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019.

Just months later, then foreign Minister Marise Payne called for an international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, which triggered trade sanctions against Australian wine, barley, and other products.

Australia has since pressed for China to walk back its tariffs, while Beijing has demanded Australia take “concrete steps” to repair ties.

The diplomatic meeting is the latest sign Beijing has ended its diplomatic freeze on Canberra.

Last month, Defence Minister Richard Marles met with his Chinese counterpart for the first meeting of defence ministers in years, in what marked a historic turning point in the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that while it was beneficial that the diplomatic freeze had thawed since his government assumed office, Australia would hold firm in its convictions.

“We will co-operate with China, but we will stand up for Australian values,” he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern agreed the Pacific needed to be “free of coercion”.

“New Zealand very clearly opposes the militarisation of the region,” she said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Bali. Penny Wong is likely to call for China to use its influence over Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Picture: Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP

Senator Wong’s meeting with her Chinese counterpart will be welcomed by the opposition, with the home affairs spokesperson Karen Andrews saying on Thursday that a stabilisation of the relationship was in Australia’s “best interests”.

“When we were in government, we were making it very clear that we were looking for diplomatic relations to the situation with China,” she said on Thursday.

“Hopefully there will be a reset of the relationship and trade will be as strong as it has traditionally been with China.”

Mr Wang met his Russian counterpart in Bali on Thursday, and will meet US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Saturday.

Originally published as ‘We have our differences’: Penny Wong meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for first time