Trump and Morrison to talk China at G20 dinner

Scott Morrison will hold talks with Donald Trump over tensions with China when they meet tonight in Osaka ahead of the G20.

Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump at last year’s G20 meeting in Buenos Aires. Picture: AFP

Scott Morrison will hold direct talks with Donald Trump over tensions with China and urge him to stay engaged in efforts to de-escalate the dispute when the two leaders meet tonight for a high-powered working dinner in Osaka ahead of the G20 world leaders meeting.

The exclusive meeting between the two leaders came as China’s top diplomat in Australia warned that his country was ready to “fight to the end” in its trade war the US and as the Prime Minister endorsed key US grievances against Beijing as “legitimate”.

The Prime Minister this morning released a statement on the G20 leaders meeting as he prepares for the dinner.

Mr Morrison said he would promote the importance of free trade and global engagement.

“As our government has said before, that is the surest path to stability and prosperity,” Mr Morrison said.

“Last year, the G20 sent a strong message of support for World Trade Organisation (WTO) reform and I will be working to progress that agenda. We need to mend the rules-based trading system.

“The G20 is a key forum for addressing the pressures the global trading system faces.”

Mr Morrison said another priority will be how the international community can keep extremist content off social media in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Christchurch.

“Together, we need to raise the bar for what we expect of social media and internet companies,” he said.

The US President invited Mr Morrison to hold a dinner meeting on the eve of the two-day summit with senior members of the administration including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and national security adviser John Bolton.

Ivanka Trump — who is an assistant and senior adviser to the President, as well as his daughter — is also scheduled to attend the dinner.

The Prime Minister will seek Mr Trump’s support for his plan for a global agreement to clamp down on social media platforms that allow users to promote ­violence, which Mr Morrison flagged following the Christchurch terrorist attack.

With fears of renewed conflict in the Middle East, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the mounting hostilities between the US and Iran, with North Korea also high on the agenda.

Mr Morrison warned of “collateral damage” to other nations from the US-China dispute.

“This meeting with the President and his senior team highlights the strength and candour of our relationship,” Mr Morrison said.

“Working together with (Japanese) Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe as this year’s G20 host, the President and I will be working to make progress on the key issues facing the international community.

“From efforts to relieve the strains on our global trading system to greater digitalisation and the need for social media companies to step up to better protect our citizens, the US and Australia have significant roles to play.

“Australia and the United States have different but complementary roles to play in the Indo-Pacific.

“It is in our interest to continue working together with other players to advance regional stability and prosperity.”

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, as well as Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey, will also attend the dinner. While backing the US position on China’s behaviour, the Prime Minister has argued for a balanced approach in resolving the dispute.

He said Australia would not stand “passively” by as strategic tensions between the two superpowers threatened to force a rebalancing of relationships in the Indo-Pacific while the trade dispute put global growth at risk.

However, China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, told business leaders in Canberra that Beijing would defend its privileged status as a developing nation under World Trade Organisation rules, while lauding the role of the Chinese Communist Party in his nation’s economic “miracle”.

He said China’s rise to become the world’s second-biggest economy in just a few decades was the result of “unswerving adherence to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

As new polling showed Australians’ trust in China plummeting to a 15-year low, Mr Cheng said Beijing had made “tremendous efforts” to de-escalate the tensions, and wanted to work with the US to develop a win-win solution.

“China is open to negotiations, but we will also fight to the end if needed,” he told the Australia China Business Council.

China’s developing country status under WTO rules gives it “special and differential treatment”, including the right to subsidise industries and set higher barriers to market entry than other countries.

The classification has infuriated Mr Trump, who has railed against the WTO as “a catastrophe” and “a disaster”.

Mr Cheng said China would “firmly safeguard its own legitimate rights, interests and development rights”.

“The wilful imposition of additional tariffs by the US goes against the WTO rules, it harms others and is of no benefit to itself,” he said.

Delivering the Asialink-Bloomberg address yesterday, Mr Morrison said the US had a point when it argued WTO rules were incapable of dealing with China.

With Greg Brown