Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia’s trade dispute with China was top of the agenda in her discussions with her counterpart,Wang Yi.Credit:afr
“We believe,as does every country with the exception of Russia,that Russia is in breach of the UN charter through its illegal invasion of Ukraine. We encourage China as a P5 member with a special responsibility to uphold the UN charter,that they uphold the UN charter to use its influence with the war.”
Wong said her second meeting with Wang,following theirfirst face-to-face discussions at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali in July,was “constructive” but the nations were still on a “long road” to better relations after the breakdown in communication during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think it is a long road on which many steps will have to be taken by both parties to a more stable relationship,” Wong said.
Australia’s long-running dispute with China over its decision to impose trade sanctions worth $20 billion was top of the agenda,she said.
“In terms of issues of differences,first amongst them is the issue of trade blockages,” Wong told a press briefing at the Australian consulate after the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “That is the issue I focused on at the outset.”
The World Trade Organisation is currently considering China’s decision in May 2020 to impose a steep 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley,which is estimated to have cost local growers $500 million a year,as well as the move in August 2020 to block wine imports while investigating if Australian wines had been sold at below-market prices.