Meeting with Xi Jinping a positive, says Anthony: Albanese

Anthony Albanese says it would be a ‘positive thing’ if he gets to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his round of international meetings next week.

Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Anthony Albanese says it would be a “positive thing” if he gets to meet Chinese President Xi ­Jinping during his round of ­international meetings next week, as Beijing and the Labor government work to take the heat out of the bilateral ­relationship.

The latest signal towards a potential meeting between the Prime Minister and China’s paramount leader came as one of parliament’s biggest China hawks, Liberal leader Peter Dutton, met Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong spoke with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in a phone call this week, ahead of potential talks between Mr Albanese and Mr Xi.

Mr Albanese said on Wednesday that while a meeting had not been arranged, “dialogue is a good thing”.

“And so if a meeting is ­arranged with Xi, that would be a positive thing,” the Prime Minister said in Canberra.

“We are organising a range of meetings, but they haven’t been finalised and locked in at this point in time.

“We’ll make an announcement if and when meetings with various leaders are locked in.”

Mr Albanese departs on Friday for a 10-day “summit season” trip to Southeast Asia, to attend the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, the G20 leaders’ meeting in Bali and the APEC ­leaders’ talks in Bangkok.

Mr Xi is expected to attend the G20 and APEC meetings.

The Opposition Leader ­confirmed he had talks with Mr Xiao, China’s representative in Canberra, on Tuesday.

“We had a constructive meeting where we discussed security, trade and human rights issues,” Mr Dutton tweeted.

“I will continue to engage in an open and honest dialogue in matters relating to the safety, ­security and prosperity of our ­region.”

Mr Dutton, a former defence minister, repeatedly warned of the strategic threat posed by China when he was defence minister, declaring before the election that Australia should “prepare for war”.

The Chinese embassy issued a statement on the meeting with the Opposition Leader, flagging that it hoped to “gain the understanding and support of the ­Liberal Party”.

“The Liberal Party of Australia has played an active and vital role in the development of relations between the two countries over the past decades,” Mr Xiao was quoted as saying in the statement published on the embassy’s ­website.

“China is willing to take this year’s 50th anniversary of ­diplomatic relations as an opportunity to look back and look ­forward, and to promote a ­comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ­Australia back on the right track based on the ­principles of mutual respect and win-win co-­operation, which is in the fundamental interests of both countries, and hopefully to gain the understanding and support of the Liberal Party.”