Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on June 25 that he would visit China at an "appropriate time", stressing the importance of bilateral trade and expressing concern over the detention of an Australian journalist in Beijing.
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| Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia, November 15, 2022. (Source: AP) |
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on June 25 that he would visit China at an "appropriate time" and stressed the importance of bilateral trade. At the same time, Prime Minister Albanese also expressed concern about the detention of an Australian journalist in Beijing.
Labor is pushing Prime Minister Albanese to seek an end to Beijing's unofficial bans and tariffs on some Canberra products in 2020, as bilateral diplomatic relations hit a low.
Asked specifically about the timing of the visit, Prime Minister Albanese said "the date will be set at the appropriate time", adding that he would travel to Lithuania in July, to attend the NATO Summit in the capital Vilnius.
Regarding the detention of a journalist, Mr Albanese declined to comment on whether Australians detained in China would be released before the visit, but reiterated his call for the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, detained in Beijing since September 2020.
The Australian prime minister noted that Australia would continue to support the removal of all barriers to trade between “two great nations.” “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.
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