Global Courant
SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday he would set the date for a visit to China at an “appropriate time” as he stressed the importance of bilateral trade and expressed concern over an Australian journalist detained in Beijing.
Talks are underway for Mr Albanese to visit China as Australia’s centre-left Labor government pushes for an end to unofficial Chinese bans and tariffs imposed on some Australian products in 2020 amid a low in diplomatic relations.
Asked when a visit would take place, Mr. Albanian “we will finish the date at an appropriate time”, adding that his next overseas trip would be to the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July.
Mr Albanese declined to ask whether Australians detained in China would be released ahead of a visit, but reiterated a call for the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who has been detained in Beijing since his arrest in September 2020.
“Cheng Lei…should be released and allowed to come home to Australia,” he said on Sky News television, according to an official transcript.
Australia continued to advocate for the removal of trade barriers between the “two great nations,” Albanese added.
“The truth is that it is in Australia’s interest to export to China, but it is also in China’s interest to receive those exports,” he said.
China said in May it would resume imports of Australian timber, days after Commerce Secretary Don Farrell returned from a trip to Beijing.
A visit by Secretary of State Penny Wong in December was followed weeks later by the resumption of coal shipments. REUTERS
