Key Points
- Penny Wong will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bali.
- They will be the first such talks since 2019
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, Beijing has confirmed.
They will be the first such high-level, face-to-face talks since 2019, in a sign relations between the two nations are thawing. China's foreign ministry has confirmed the ministers will meet outside the main meeting at around 6pm on Friday, the ABC reported.
On Friday, Senator Wong said it was in the interests of both countries for the relationship to be stabilised.
"I look forward to an open discussion with my counterpart, it will be an important opportunity to engage on bilateral issues," she told reporters.
"We all know we have our differences, there are challenges in the relationship, but we believe engagement is necessary to stabilise the relationship."
Senator Wong said the approach of the Australian government would always be centred on Australia's national interests. Australia wants China to unwind trade sanctions on Australian goods, while Beijing says Australia must take steps to repair ties.
She said Australia would engage "calmly, consistently, diplomatically and directly".
When questioned about what was at the top of her agenda, the foreign minister said there would be "a number of issues raised".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also addressed the meeting during a press conference on Friday morning, saying the region was undergoing a period of strategic competition.
"We will co-operate with China (where) we can but we will stand up for Australian values when we must," he said.
Earlier, Senator Wong welcomed a proposed meeting between the US and Chinese foreign ministers at the G20 ministerial meeting.
"If we want greater stability in this world, we would want the two great powers to engage closely, notwithstanding their differences," she said.
Change of tone in Australia-China talks, deputy prime minister says
The challenges of the Australia-China relationship will not be fixed in one day, but the power of diplomacy will be used in Australia's interests, the deputy prime minister says.
Australia's national interest will be at the forefront of Senator Wong's approach, but she will have a different tone from the former government, Richard Marles said.
"China is our largest trading partner, we value that relationship (and) we want to approach it from the perspective of being professional and understanding the power of diplomacy," he told ABC radio on Friday.
"It's not about Australia changing its position in relation to any of the substantive issues. We will continue to be articulating our national interest very strongly."
But the deputy prime minister can't promise the disputes between Australia and China over trade and the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be fixed in one meeting.
"There are a whole lot of challenges in the relationship which are going to continue and which are not going to be resolved today," he said.
"The change of tone matters ... we're not going to do the chest-beating that we saw from the former government, which didn't take us anywhere and didn't advance our national interest in any way."
