Penny Wong puts pressure on her Chinese counterpart at UN General Assembly

Penny Wong has called on China to help stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and raised her concerns about restrictions on Australian exports and Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei.

Australia has urged the Chinese government to use its influence to bring an end to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

In a meeting in New York, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong also turned up the heat on her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the ongoing restrictions on Australian exports and the imprisonment of Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei on spurious charges.

Senator Wong said that while the talks were constructive, there was “a long road” ahead to repair the fractured ties between the two countries.

“Many steps will have to be taken by both parties to a more stable relationship,” she said.

The pair met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which has been dominated by Vladimir Putin’s escalation of the Ukraine invasion, with hundreds of thousands of Russians called up to fight and the Russian President threatening to use nuclear weapons.

While Mr Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spruiked their “no limits” partnership, the Russian President acknowledged after their meeting last week that China had “questions and concerns” about the Ukraine invasion.

Senator Wong said she had urged China to live up to its obligations under the United Nations charter, particularly as a “great power” and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

“We encourage China … to use its influence to end the war,” she said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong meets China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New York. Picture: Sky News,

She said China’s restrictions on Australian exports were her primary focus in the meeting, the second between the pair since the diplomatic freeze ended with the election of the Albanese government in May.

“Australian interests are constant and the government will continue to speak on those issues we believe are necessary, and continue to engage with China in order to stabilise the relationship,” Senator Wong said.

“That will require continued engagement and good will on both sides.”

She also urged restraint and de-escalation over Taiwan and raised Australia’s ongoing concerns about human rights abuses by the Communist Party regime.

Prior to the talks, Senator Wong had joined a meeting of the Partners in the Blue Pacific forum along with leaders from the Pacific Islands and Japan, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Germany and Canada indicated they were keen to join the new bloc, designed to provide greater support to the Pacific in the face of China’s efforts to build its influence in the region.

Earlier this week, Senator Wong refused to be drawn on whether Australian troops would support Joe Biden’s commitment to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

The US President this week emphatically declared American forces would be sent in to support Taiwan in the event of an “unprecedented attack”, contradicting the White House’s official position of strategic ambiguity on whether the US would intervene with force.

Senator Wong, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said Australia’s position on Taiwan “has not changed” as she refused to entertain questions about whether soldiers could be deployed.

“It isn’t responsible for me to engage in hypotheticals and I don’t intend to do so,” she said.

“We want to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait … We do not want to see any unilateral change to the status quo.”

“We want a region in which sovereignty is respected, where rules and norms can govern disputes, not simply power and size.”

Ms Wong attends the United Nations in New York with Pat Dodson, Labor Senator for WA. Picture: Foreign Office.

On her first day in New York, Senator Wong also met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as Russia announced it would stage annexation votes on four Ukrainian regions.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the move would not be accepted by the international community, declaring if it “wasn’t so tragic it would be funny”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to make a televised address – his first since the invasion began – before it was postponed.

Senator Wong said the illegal invasion had “cast a shadow” over the UN talks, and that there was “always more we can do” to support Ukraine.

“The government will continue to look at ways we can support the people of Ukraine,” she said.

“The solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict is for Russia to do the right thing and withdraw, and to cease its illegal invasion of someone else’s territory.”

Senator Wong is in New York with Senator Pat Dodson, the government’s special envoy for reconciliation and implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

They will host a roundtable on indigenous approaches to foreign policy as the government opens expressions of interest for its promised new role of an Ambassador for First Nations Peoples.

ANALYSIS

There’s a joke in Washington, DC about Joe Biden’s gaffes: three of them make a policy.

So now the US President has contradicted America’s official position on Taiwan on four separate occasions, it’s about time he is taken at his word.

The White House has traditionally taken a stance of “strategic ambiguity” on whether American troops would come to the aid of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese military invasion.

Each time Mr Biden has recently shifted that ambiguity towards clarity, with commitments to put US boots on the ground, his officials have quickly rowed his comments back and suggested nothing has changed.

That charade should not distract from the message Mr Biden is sending Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Foreign Minister of Australia, Senator Penny Wong attends the United Nations in New York with Pat Dodson, Labor Senator for WA. Picture: Foreign Office

In national security circles, concern has been rapidly mounting about the prospect of live conflict over Taiwan – Mr Biden is bluntly seeking to deter any such action from China.

Where does that leave Australia? Speaking in New York, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong was diplomatic as always, leaving Mr Biden to speak for himself and reiterating that Australia wanted the status quo in Taiwan to be maintained.

Of course, there is nothing to be gained from Ms Wong or Prime Minister Anthony Albanese publicly backing Mr Biden’s hardened view.

The deterrent will already be clear to Xi – Australia does not need to raise the temperature any higher.

Mr Biden has drawn a line in the sand. We can only hope Australian soldiers never need to join their American counterparts on the right side of it.

Originally published as Penny Wong puts pressure on her Chinese counterpart at UN General Assembly