Australia | China
Australia rejects Beijing's demand to restart bilateral talks
Canberra/IBNS: Australia will not change its policy as demanded by China to resume the bilateral talks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said, according to media reports.
"We've been advised by China that they will only engage in high-level dialogue if we meet certain conditions. Australia places no conditions on dialogue. We can't meet (their) conditions now," Payne said in a speech late on Thursday in Canberra, reported Reuters.
Australia's relationship with China took a bad turn after it banned Huawei from its 5G broadband networking in 2018. The bilateral ties nosedived after Canberra joined the USA in demanding an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, first reported in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province in central China last year.
In response, China imposed tariffs on Australian goods, including barley and wine, and Australian beef, coal and grapes, which it imports in limited quantities.
The Reuters report said that Chinese embassy in Australia did not respond to Payne's speech.
Despite the tensions, China remains the biggest trading partner of Australia.
In the last fiscal year, China imported goods worth $110.1 billion from Australia. The trade dipped by a minor 0.6 per cent but strong prices for iron ore, which is the largest single item in Australia's trade with China, added the report.
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