Sydney, Australia, Jun 17 (EFE).- Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang, pledged on Monday to make “mutual” efforts to stabilize bilateral relations, including a plan to improve military communication and visa exemptions.
China’s Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian, China’s Premier Li Qiang, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Education Jason Clare pose for a photograph at a signing ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, 17 June 2024. EFE-EPA/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Albanese and Li, who is on an official tour of Australia between June 15 and 18, participated in the annual Australia-China Leaders’ Meeting in Canberra on Monday as well as in the signing of five agreements on trade, climate change, education and research.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at a luncheon at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, 17 June 2024. EFE-EPA/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
In a joint press conference with Albanese, Li said that the meeting showed that “both countries attach great importance to our relationship and that this relationship is on the right track of steady improvement and development.”
“China will work with Australia in a spirit of mutual respect, seeking common ground while showing differences and mutual benefit to build a more mature, stable and fruitful Comprehensive Strategic Partnership so as to bring more benefits to our two peoples,” added the Chinese leader, the first to visit the Oceania country since 2017.
“There is no fixed model for a stabilized relationship. Our job is to make sure that we manage our relationship so that we can contribute to regional and global peace and prosperity,” Albanese said in his opening remarks at the meeting.
“We won’t always agree – and the points on which we disagree won’t simply disappear if we leave them in silence,” Albanese said at an official luncheon he hosted for Li in Canberra.
At a press conference held later, Albanese said that among the “practical” measures that both leaders discussed was “improving military to military communication so as to avoid incidents” that would escalate tensions in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
In May, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force fighter jet dropped flares near an Australian military helicopter in the Yellow Sea and in November last year, a Chinese warship activated its sonar, caused minor injuries to Australian divers in the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The two leaders also addressed the issue of foreign interference, which has led Australia since 2018 to pass laws after Chinese donations to politicians and cyberattacks on state agencies and universities, attributed to China, were discovered.
Albanese also presented to Li the case of Australian pro-democracy academic Yang Hengjun, handed a suspended death sentence in Beijing in February for espionage that may be commuted to life imprisonment in two years.
During his visit, Li announced that China will add Australia to its visa-waiver list of countries, which means that trips of up to 15 days can be made visa-free.
Both countries also agreed on reciprocal access to multi-entry visas of up to three to five years’ duration for business, tourism, and visiting family members, according to the joint statement.
Ties between Beijing and Canberra began deteriorate in 2017 over Australian laws against foreign interference and a ban on Chinese companies from its 5G network in 2018, to which Beijing responded in 2020 with tough trade measures that it began to ease in 2022 after Albanese’s rise to power.
Li, who visited New Zealand last week, will travel to Malaysia on Tuesday after paying a visit to a Chinese lithium plant in Perth. EFE
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