By Elishya Perera
SYDNEY, Australia (CWBN)_ After a damaging trade war between Australia and China cost billions of dollars for Australian exporters, Beijing has finally called for reconciliation with its trade partner, as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he would like to see the relationship between the two countries on the right track “as early as possible”.
The Foreign Minister made these comments during a conversation with former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, at a private event livestreamed two weeks ago. Nevertheless, Wang noted that the ball was in Australia’s court, despite Canberra’s claims that the government’s calls for reconciliation with Beijing had gone unanswered.
The discussion was held just days after Australia initiated its first litigation against China at the World Trade Organisation, regarding tariffs on barley exports which were imposed in May this year.
Following Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic which emerged from Wuhan, Beijing slapped Canberra with economic sanctions which has disrupted Australia’s agricultural and resources exports, including timber, wine, lobster, beef and coal.
Subsequently, in November, Morrison extended an olive branch to Beijing, as he said he was “happy to have a discussion” about the list of 14 grievances issued by Chinese officials, during a livestreamed appearance at a UK policy event.
However, relations between the trade partners hit a new low after China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted a highly distressing fabricated image of what appears to be an Australian soldier slitting a child’s throat.
During the recent discussion, Wang did not address the 14 grievances or the fake image, and instead claimed that Australia and China could again be partners, not enemies.
“If Australia sees China as a threat, then the improvement of this relationship would be difficult,” he said. “If Australia sees China not as a threat, but a partner, then for the issues between us there are better chances that we find solutions. So, I would kick the ball to Australia.”
Nevertheless, the Foreign Minister said that Beijing hopes that its relationship with Canberra would come back to the right track “as early as possible”, and noted that the communist superpower would welcome all efforts made in order to improve diplomatic relations between the trade partners.
However, experts warn that Wang’s comments should “not be over-interpreted as some kind of positive signal”.
Rory Medcalf, Head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, pointed out that the Foreign Minister’s comments were at best “mild and conditional”, and that his words still placed all the responsibility on Australia.
“There’s no admission that China bears any fault in the deterioration in ties, or even acknowledgement that it is using ongoing coercive measures […]” Medcalf said. “And in the end, everything seems to depend on how Beijing chooses to define how Australia treats and perceives China – as if there is a simplistic choice between all threat and all partner. That’s not a healthy starting point for pragmatic and mutually beneficially relations.”
Other experts too note that there was nothing conciliatory in Wang’s comments, and has accused the Foreign Minister for avoiding any substance and claiming that this is all a problem of Australia’s attitude.
