Space Travel News
TRADE WARS
China's FM heads to Australia, New Zealand
China's FM heads to Australia, New Zealand
by AFP Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Mar 14, 2024

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will next week visit Australia and New Zealand, officials said Thursday, with the diplomatic blitz expected to focus on easing trade.

Wang's visit to Australia, his first as foreign minister since 2017, comes as the two countries have begun to resolve simmering trade disputes, despite recent sparring over human rights and China's growing clout in the Pacific region.

"I think it is a good thing that Wang Yi is visiting," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters Thursday, citing "significant progress" in removing trade impediments.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wang would also be visiting Wellington.

"We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand's most important and complex."

China's top diplomat is scheduled to hold "strategic dialogue" talks with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra on March 20.

"We seek to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest," Wong said in a statement.

Australia's trade relations with China have improved since Albanese's centre-left Labor Party won power in 2022, adopting a less confrontational tone than the previous conservative government.

China had imposed tariffs and trade barriers on key Australian exports in 2020, retaliating after Canberra barred Huawei from 5G contracts and then called for a probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beijing's foreign ministry said Wang's visits would be "a prelude to high-level exchanges between China and the two countries this year".

Wang "will have extensive and in-depth exchange of views with foreign ministers and leaders of the two countries on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues", ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing.

"China looks forward to working with the two countries to implement the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual trust, (and) deepen exchanges and cooperation."

- 'Outrage' -

Beijing has already unwound tariffs and restrictions on Australian coal, timber and barley, and it is expected to do the same for Australian wine.

Melbourne-based Treasury Wine Estates said this week it had been advised by Chinese and Australian authorities of Beijing's "interim draft determination" to remove the wine tariffs following a five-month review.

It expected a final decision "in the coming weeks".

Albanese made a breakthrough trip to Beijing in November 2023, hailing progress in ties as "unquestionably very positive".

The two countries remain at odds in strategic areas, however.

Last month, Australia's government said it had expressed its "outrage" after Beijing handed a suspended death sentence to Chinese-Australian dissident writer Yang Jun.

Wong warned at the time that such decisions would "have an impact" on the relationship.

Overseas, Australia and its allies are seeking to parry China's expanding reach in the South Pacific.

Canberra and Washington were jolted into action after Beijing signed a secretive security deal with Solomon Islands in 2022.

Australia also supports the US and Asian countries in opposing Beijing's sovereignty claims over the South China Sea.

If wine tariffs are removed, only Australian rock lobster, hay and beef from some abattoirs will remain subject to Chinese trade restrictions.

New Zealand has typically had a far less prickly relationship with Beijing, which is its largest trading partner.

Related Links
Global Trade News

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
TRADE WARS
French, Asian shipping giants extend alliance
Paris (AFP) Feb 27, 2024
Shipping giants CMA CGM of France, China's Cosco Shipping, Taiwan's Evergreen and Hong Kong-based OOCL said on Tuesday they were extending the sector's biggest operational alliance to 2032. CMA CGM, the world's third biggest shipping company, said the Ocean Alliance, in place since 2017, enables its members to provide fast transit times and a broad range of ports. The partnership covers the seven main East-West routes linking Asia with northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the ... read more

TRADE WARS
TRADE WARS
Study reveals potential for life's building blocks from Mars' ancient atmosphere

Little Groundwater Recharge in Ancient Mars Aquifer, According to New Models

Three years later, search for life on Mars continues

Mining Into Mineral King: Sols 4110-4111

TRADE WARS
NASA and SpaceX complete docking system tests for Lunar Starship Lander

ILOA receives first lunar surface and descent images from ILO-X

To the Moon and back: NASA's Artemis II crew rehearses splashdown

As mission ends, US lunar lander could still 'wake' back up

TRADE WARS
New moons of Uranus and Neptune announced

NASA's New Horizons Detects Dusty Hints of Extended Kuiper Belt

NASA's Europa Jupiter Mission will be packed with humanity's messages

UCF scientists use James Webb Space Telescope to uncover clues about Neptune's evolution

TRADE WARS
Hold on to your atmospheres: how planet size affects atmospheric escape

CUTE's groundbreaking design paves the way for future small-scale space missions

Earth as a test object

Interstellar signal linked to aliens was actually just a truck

TRADE WARS
MAPHEUS 14 high-altitude research rocket takes flight

HyImpulse readies SR75 rocket for historic maiden launch in Australia

NASA Expanding Lunar Exploration with Upgraded SLS Mega Rocket Design

SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy Cleared for Takeoff: FAA Grants Launch License

TRADE WARS
Chang'e 6 and new rockets highlight China's packed 2024 space agenda

Long March 5 deploys Communication Technology Demonstrator 11 satellite

Shenzhou 17 astronauts complete China's first in-space repair job

Tiangong Space Station's Solar Wings Restored After Spacewalk Repair by Shenzhou XVII Team

TRADE WARS
DART impact might have reshaped Hera's target asteroid

NASA's Planetary Radar Images Slowly Spinning Asteroid

Emirates mission to the asteroid belt complets PDR

Can astronomers use radar to spot a cataclysmic asteroid?

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.