Beijing Needs to Engage With Australia ‘Wisely’: Foreign Minister Penny Wong
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has again signalled to Beijing that good bilateral relations are dependent on billions in punitive trade sanctions on Australian products being removed.
The sanctions, implemented in 2020 as part of a targeted campaign of economic coercion against Australia, have been a sticking point for officials looking to stabilise ties.
Beijing has previously said there was nothing wrong with the coercive trade sanctions, with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spokesperson, Wang Weibin, saying that Beijing’s measures were “lawful and beyond reproach.”
Currently, it is estimated the sanctions on eight Australian exports—including wine, timber, coal, beef, lamb, seafood, barley, and honey—have cost the country’s exporters around $23 billion (US$15.4 billion)….